^  PRINCETON,  N.  J.  iff 


^^-  /^/"^ 


BV  4253  .P3  1844 

Paget,  Fracis  Edward,  1806- 

1882. 
Sermons  on  duties  of  daily 
•s^^^A .i..i.f.^     ..^^._^. 


^W^'' 


SERMONS 


DUTIES  OF   DAILY   LIFE 


BY 


FRANCIS  E.  PAGET,  M.  A., 


RECTOR    OF    ELFORD. 


'  Caro  reclamat :  sed  Patria 
Urget  voluntas  :  nos  tuS, 
Virtute  da  fortes  sequi 
Jesu,  quod  exemplo  doces. 


PHILADELPHIA : 
THOMAS    WARDLE. 

SOLD  BY  W.  G.  WARDLE,  144  CHESNUT  STREET. 
1841. 


King  &  Baikd,  PuirfTErvs,  0  George  St. 


TO 

THE  REVEREND  EDWARD  CHURTON,  M.  A., 

CANOISr    OF    YORK, 
ETC.,   ETC., 

IN  GRATEFUL  AND  AFFECTIONATE  ACKNOWLEDGEBIENT 

OF  THE  BLESSING 

OF   HIS   FRIENDSHIP,  HIS  COUNSELS, 

AND 

HIS  EXAMPLE. 


PREFACE 


The  sermons  in  this  volume  being  intended 
for  Domestic  Reading,  it  has  been  the  writer's 
endeavour  to  make  them  as  clear  and  simple  as 
possible  both  in  style  and  language. 

In  designating  them  as  Sermons  on  duties 
of  Daily  Dife,  he  does  not  mean  to  intimate 
that  he  has  done  more  than  dwell  upon  some 
few  of  those  Christian  graces  on  which  the 
Churchman's  character  is  built  up.  He  has 
not  even  endeavoured  to  complete  the  circuit 
of  the  most  eminent,  but  only  to  inculcate 
those  which  it  seems  specially  needful,  at  the 
present  time,  to  bring  under  the  consideration 
of  all  classes. 

Pulpit-instruction  must  always  take  its  tone, 
more  or  less,  from  the  religious  character  of  the 
age.     Every  generation  has  its  distinguishing 


VI  PREFACE. 

form  of  error ;  for  each,  in  succession,  the 
tempter  provides  new  snares  or  revives  old 
ones.  Against  each  heretical  or  schismatic 
tendency,  as  it  arises,  it  is  the  doty  of  the 
Christian  Priesthood  to  warn  the  faithful. 
Hence,  at  different  times,  some  one  class  of  doc- 
trines has  been  more  urgently  insisted  on  than 
any  other;  and  this,  not  so  much  on  account 
of  the  relative  importance  of  those  doctrines 
in  the  scheme  of  Revelation,  as  because,  from 
special  circumstances,  there  was  at  some  given 
period  a  special  danger  lest  the  children  of  the 
Church  should  be  perverted  in  some  particular 
respect. 

Thus,  at  one  time,  the  activity  of  Infidel 
"writers  has  forced  the  current  of  Theology 
into  a  channel  in  which  Apologies  for  Scrip- 
ture and  discussions  on  the  Evidences  of 
natural  and  revealed  Religion  have  been  mul- 
tiplied, till  other  subjects  of  equal  importance 
have  seemed  well  nigh  forced  into  the  back- 
ground. At  another  time,  the  maintaining  and 
propagation  of  Socinian  heresy  has  caused  the 
Godhead  of  our  blessed  Lord  to  be  as  assi- 
duously maintained  and  defended  by  the  ortho- 
dox, as  if  that  were  almost  the  only  point 
on  which  a  right  faith  is  necessary.  In  every 
age  the  Church  warns  her  children  against  the 


PREFACE.  Vll 


errors  that  are  most  likely  to  beset  them,  not 
really  giving  to  any  doctrines  a  greater  im- 
portance than  Scripture  has  assigned  to  them, 
but  speaking  under  certain  circumstances  more 
fully  of  those  which  happen  to  be  in  dispute, 
than  of  those  about  which  there  is  no  con- 
troversy. 

In  the  present  volume  it  has  been  the 
Author's  wish  and  endeavour  to  avoid  disputed 
topics  as  much  as  possible,  not  because  he  has 
no  opinion  of  his  own  on  the  subjects  which  so 
unhappily  agitate  us,  not  because  he  deems  it 
undesirable  that  Churchmen,  when  fully  in- 
structed, should  choose  their  side  ;  but  simply, 
because  the  object  of  a  Sermon  is  something 
more  than  to  help  persons  to  become  judges  of 
controversy  ;  and  it  is  more  than  ever  the  duty 
of  a  preacher,  in  times  of  controversy,  to  remind 
his  hearers  that  the  way  to  be  enlightened  to 
discern  divine  truth  is  to  seek  it  in  the  practice 
of  obedience-     (John  vii.  17.) 

Accordingly,  in  the  ensuing  discourses,  he 
has  said  as  little  as  possible  on  the  religious 
questions  of  the  day,  and  has  preferred  speak- 
ing on  subjects  in  respect  to  which  advice  seems 
most  needed,  while  party  spirit  is  running  high, 
and  wherein  Christian  duties  have  been  most 
forgotten.     At  the  same  time,  he  feels  it  due  to 


Vlii  PKEFACE. 

himself  and  to  the  reader  to  say  that  he  has 
uniformly  enforced  Church-principles,  as  they 
are  called,  wherever  the  subject  under  discus- 
sion has  led  to  them. 

And  by  Church-principles  he  means  those 
which  are  in  entire  accordance  with  the  Church 
of  the  Prayer  Booh;  a  Church  in  which  all 
things  necessary  to   salvation  may  be  found, 
and  which  offers  us  blessings  and  privileges  far 
greater  and  more  numerous  than  we  choose  to 
avail  ourselves  of; — a  Church  which  is  Catholic, 
not  sectarian  ;    following  primitive   rule    and 
practice,  not  the  corruptions  of  divided  times 
and  later  ages;  neither  Romanizing  nor  ultra- 
Protestant,  but  evangelical  and  apostolical  in 
the  true  sense  of  those  terms  ;  a  Church   in 
w^hich  there  may  be  imperfections  and  defici- 
encies, (as  in  her  discipline,  in  the  working  of 
her  system,  and  in  the  lives  and  tempers  of  her 
members),  but  with  which,  till  they  have  lived 
up  to  her  ordinances,  fully  and  unreservedly,  it 
does  not  behove  any  of  her  children  to  be  dis- 
satisfied, and  of  which,  therefore,  it  still  less 
behoves  them  to  set  themselves  up  as  judges. 

With  the  teaching  of  that  Church,  as  ex- 
hibited in  her  Prayer  Book,  the  writer  has 
endeavoured  to  identify  his  own  ;  and  if  there 
be  anything   in   this  volume  which  is  not  in 


PREFACE.  IX 

accordance  with  that  teaching,  which  comes 
short  of  it,  or  goes  beyond  it,  the  writer  desires 
to  repudiate  and  revoke  it,  and  to  submit  him- 
self in  all  things  to  her  teaching. 

And  he  begs  the  prayers  of  those  who  may 
chance  to  differ  from  him,  as  well  as  of  those 
who  agree  with  him,  that  what  he  has  here  said 
truly,  may  bring  forth  fruit  unto  perfection,  and 
that  what  is  unsound  (if,  unhappily,  any  such 
thing  there  be,)  may  wither  and  die,  and  find 
no  entrance  into  his  readers'  hearts. 

FEA.ST  OF   THE   CONVERSION   OF   ST.   PAUL. 

.__^.-  ..  1844. 


CONTENTS. 


SERMON  I. 

SOWING  AND  REAPING. 

HOSEA  X.   12. 

Page. 
Sow  to  yourselves  in  righteousness,  reap  in  mercy 9 

SERMON  II. 

FORGETFULNESS  OF  GOD. 
Psalm  ix.  17. 

The  wicked  shall  be  turned  into  hell :  and  all  the  people  that 

forget  God 27 

SERMON  III. 

CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS. 

Matthew  xix.  20. 

What  lack  I  yet  1 43 


XU  CONTENTS. 

SERMON  IV. 

THE  SOURCE  OF  MAN'S   SUFFICIENCY 

2  CoRiNTHiAxs  iii.  5. 

Page. 
Our  sufficiency  is  of  God 61 

SERMON  V. 

THE    BLESSEDNESS    OF    NOT    BEING    OFFENDED    IN 
CHRIST. 

Matthew  xi.  6. 

And  blessed  is  he,  whosoever  shall  not  be  offended  in  Me.     .     75 

SERMON  VL 

HOLINESS    IN    OURSELVES    AND    FORBEARANCE    TO 
OTHERS. 

^Mark  ix.  50. 
Have  salt  in  yourselves,  and  have  peace  one  with  another.     .  91 

SERMON  VII. 

ON  SINS  OF  THE  TONGUE. 
Matthew  xii.  36. 

I  say  unto  you,  that  every  idle  word  that  men  shall  speak, 

they  shall  give  account  thereof  in  the  day  of  judgment.     107 

SERMON  VIII. 

CHRISTIAN  REVERENCE. 
Malachi  i.  6. 

A  son  honoureth  his  father,  and  a  servant  his  master:  if  then 
I  be  a  Father,  where  is  Mine  Honour?  and  if  I  be  a 
Master,  where  is  my  fear  1  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts.     .     .  123 


CONTENTS.  Xlll 

SERMON  IX. 

CHRISTIAN  RESOLUTION. 

Luke  ix.  62. 

Page. 
And  Jesus  said  unto  him,  No  man   having  put  his  hand  to 
the  plough,  and  looking  back,  is  fit  for  the  kingdom  of 
God • 141 

SERMON  X. 

TRUSTFULNESS. 

Job  xiii.  15. 

Though  He  slay  me,  yet  will  I  trust  in  Him 157 

SERMON  XI. 

ON  SPIRITUAL  MINDEDNESS. 

Romans  viii.  6. 

To  be  carnally  minded  is  death ;  but  to  be  spiritually  minded 

is  life  and  peace 173 

SERMON  XII. 

OBEDIENCE   TO  THE  CHURCH,  HER  MINISTERS,  AND 
ORDINANCES. 

Hebrews  xiii.  7,  8. 

Remember  them  which  have  the  rule  over  you,  who  have 
spoken  unto  you  the  Word  of  God  :  whose  faith  follow, 
considering  the  end  of  their  conversation  :  Jesus  Christ, 
the  same  yesterday,  to  day,  and  for  ever 189 

SERMON  XIII. 

ON  ALMSGIVING. 

Matthew  vi.  1. 

Take  heed  that  ye  do  not  your  alms  before  men,  to  be  seen 
of  them  ;  otherwise  ye  have  no  reward  of  3''our  Father 
which  is  in  heaven 207 


XIV  CONTENTS. 

SERMON  XIV. 
ON  PRAYER. 
Matthew  vi.  5. 

Page. 
When  thou  prayest,  Ihou  shall  not  be  as  the  hypoci'ites  are.    221 

SERMON  XV. 

ON  FASTING. 

Matthew  vi.  17,  18. 

Thou,  when  thou  fastest,  anoint  thine  head,  and  wash  thy 
face  ;  that  thou  appear  not  unto  men  to  fast,  but  unto  thy 
Father  which  is  in  secret:  and  thy  Father  which  seeth  in 
secret  shall  reward  thee  openly 237 

SERMON  XVI. 

ON  SOWING  BESIDE  ALL  WATERS. 

Isaiah  xxxii.  20. 
Blessed  are  ye  that  sow  beside  all  waters 253 

SERMON  XVII. 

THE  PROMISES  AN  ENCOURAGEMET  TO  EXERTION. 

(a  ser:>iox  for  all  saints'  ijay.) 

Luke  xiv.  22. 

And  yet  there  is  room 269 

SERMON  XVIII. 

OF  DYING  DAILY. 

1  Couinthiaxs  xv.  31. 

I  die  daily 285 


CONTENTS.  XV 

SERMON  XIX. 

THE  END  OF  ALL  THINGS. 
1  Peti-.u  iv.  7. 

The  end  of  all  things  is  at  hand:   be  ye  therefore  sober,  and 

watch  unto  prayer 299 

SERMON  XX. 

THE  PILGRLM'S  ABIDING  FRIEND. 

Luke  xxiv.  29. 

But  they  constrained  Him,  saying,  Abide  Avilh  us  ;  for  it  is 

toward  evening,  and  the  day  is  far  spent 315 


SERMONS. 


SERxMON  I. 

SOWING     AND     REAPING. 
HOSEA  X.   12. 

Sow  to  yourselves  in  righteousness,  reap  in  mercy. 

We  profess  and  call  ourselves  Christians.  We 
acknowledge  one  Baptism  for  the  remission  of  sins, 
we  look  for  the  resurrection  of  the  dead,  and  the  life 
ofthe  world  to  come.  We  believe  that  from  Him, 
by  Whose  name  we  are  called,  emanates  everything 
which  can  give  us  hope  while  we  live,  and  which 
can  save  us  from  despair  when  we  come  to  die.  In 
Him,  so  long  as  we  continue  in  Him,  we  are  safe ; 
apart  from  Him,  our  ruin  is  irrecoverable,  irremedi- 
able. Of  Him,  and  through  Him,  and  to  Him  are 
all  things.  His  life  is  our  example ;  His  death  our 
atonement ;  His  resurrection  is  our  justification,  and 
2 


10  SOWING    AND    REAPING. 

the  seal  of  our  acceptance ;  His  ascension  is  our 
assurance  that  we  have  an  advocate  with  the  Father ; 
His  promised  return  is  our  most  awful  warning  and 
highest  encouragement.  In  Jesus,  the  Son  of  Mary, 
we  see  One  made  like  unto  ourselves  in  all  things, 
sin  alone  excepted,  the  partaker  of  our  infirmities, 
the  sharer  in  our  temptations,  and  sufferings,  and 
sorrows :  One  Who  can  sympathise  with  us,  and  feel 
for  us ;  Who  can  have  compassion  on  the  ignorant, 
and  on  them  that  are  out  of  the  way,  as  having  Him- 
self experienced  the  full  weight  and  bitterness  of 
every  trial  to  which  humanity  can  be  exposed.  In 
Christ  the  Son  of  God,  we  see  One,  Who  being  the 
brightness  of  the  Father's  glory,  and  the  express 
image  of  His  person,  God  of  God,  Light  of  Light, 
Very  God  of  Very  God,  is  as  able  as  He  is  willing 
to  save  us  all.  He  is  our  hope  and  our  fortress,  our 
castle,  and  deliverer,  our  defender  in  Whom  we  trust ; 
in  Him,  and  Him  alone  that  trust  is  fixed  ;  and  the 
grounds  of  that  trust  are  His  Incarnation  and  sinless 
life ;  His  agony  and  bloody  sweat ;  His  cross  and 
passion;  His  precious  death  and  glorious  resurrec- 
tion ;  His  shedding  abroad  the  gift  of  His  Spirit-,  and 
His  constant  intercession  in  our  behalf.  To  us  most 
miserable  sinners,  Christ  is  all  in  all,  and  the  atoning 
sacrifice  of  the  cross  the  one  plea  we  can  offer  for 
final  acceptance  with  God. 


SOWING    AND    REAPING.  1  1 

If  then,  we  speak  of  the  necessity  there  is  that 
Christians  should  lead  holy  lives,  or  of  the  possibility 
of  our  performing  true  and  laudable  service,  we  never 
speak  as  implying  the  notion  that  any  service  of  our's 
can  be  meritorious,  or  that  any  amount  of  personal 
holiness  could  entitle  us  to  claim  a  place  in  heaven. 
It  cost  more  to  redeem  our  souls,  so  that  we  must 
leave  that  thought  alone  for  ever.  Rather  must  we 
bow  our  heads  to  the  dust  continually,  under  the  reflec- 
tion that  so  guilty  were  we,  that  nothing  but  the 
blood-shedding  of  our  God  could  save  us, — rather, 
as  we  lift  up  our  eyes  to  that  hill  of  Calvary  from 
whence  cometh  our  help,  must  our  one  thought  be 
that  of  the  immeasurable  mercy  of  Him  who  took 
pity  on  us  children  of  perdition,  who  could  do  nothing 
for  ourselves,  but  increase  the  burden  of  our  guilt 
and  rebellion. 

Such,  I  say,  is  our  condition.  In  ourselves  we  can 
do  nothing.  To  no  works  of  our  own  can  we  trust 
for  salvation.  And  yet  the  Bible,  from  one  end  to 
the  other, — the  New  Testament  as  well  as  the  Old, 
— is  continually  addressing  us  in  language  similar  to 
that  of  the  Prophet  in  the  text,  "  Sow  to  yourselves 
in  righteousness,  reap  in  mercy."  We  look  for  the 
resurrection  of  the  dead,  and  the  life  of  the  world  to 
come,  and  admit  that  it  will  be  through  Christ's  merits 
alone,  if  in  that  world  to  come,  our  lot  is  fixed  in 


12  SOWING    AND    REAPING. 

heaven,  not  in  hell :  and  yet  we  profess  our  belief 
that  at  the  last  day  we  shall  be  severally  judged  for 
our  actions,  and  our  eternal  destiny  decided  accord- 
ing as  they  have  been  good  or  evil. 

Now,  as  it  must  needs  be  of  great  importance  that 
we  should  have  clear  and  right  views  upon  such  a 
momentous  subject  as  this,  let  us  see  what  the  Word 
of  God,  as  expounded  and  witnessed  to  by  the  Church, 
teaches  with  reference  to  the  necessity  of  a  life  of  right- 
eousness on  our  part,  and  as  to  the  grounds  on  which 
a  reward  will  be  given  to  the  righteous  hereafter. 

The  passage  from  which  my  text  is  taken,  is  a  part 
of  the  wrhings  of  Hosea,  whose  denunciations  against 
the  transgressions  of  the  chosen  race  are  among  the 
most  severe  which  are  to  be  found  in  the  writings  of 
the  prophets,  and  therefore  are  peculiarly  well  adapted 
for  the  meditation  of  us  Christians  among  the  Gen- 
tiles, who  have  been  admitted  into  Christ's  Holy 
Catholic  Church,  and  who,  on  that  ground,  are  a 
"chosen  generation;"  but  who,  like  Israel  of  old, 
have  but  too  abundant  reason  to  expect  the  outpour- 
ings of  God's  wrath  on  our  wickedness  and  spiritual 
idolatry. 

Among  these  predictions,  however,  of  coming  ven- 
geance, will  be  found  many  invitations  to  repentance, 
and  many  promises  of  mercy,  such  as  the  Good  Spirit 
of  God  hath  ever  blended  with   His  most  awful 


SOWING    AND    REAPING.  13 

tlireatenings.  And  such  is  the  passage  under  con- 
sideration. Even  while  the  Almighty  declares  that 
it  is  in  His  desire  to  punish  them,  He  reminds  them 
of  the  gentleness  He  had  heretofore  shown  them  ; 
how,  like  a  husbandman  with  untried  heifers,  who 
encourages  them,  and  gradually  accustoms  them  to 
the  yoke.  He  had  endeavoured  to  win  them  to  obedi- 
ence. And  then  he  exhorts  them  to  be  no  longer 
restive  and  refractory,  but  obedient  and  docile.  "  Sow 
to  yourselves  in  righteousness,  reap  in  mercy  :  break 
up  your  fallow  ground:  for  it  is  time  to  seek  the 
Lord,  till  He  come  and  rain  righteousness  upon  you." 

The  illustration  here  chosen  from  the  works  of 
nature,  as  they  are  usually  called,  is  common  to  many 
other  parts  of  Scripture ;  and  the  resemblance  is  so 
obvious  between  the  progress  of  a  seed  from  its  first 
being  committed  to  the  soil,  till  the  final  harvest,  with 
that  of  the  gradual  development  of  the  principle  of 
good  in  the  soul  of  man,  that  I  need  not  now  stop  to 
dwell  upon  it  particularly.  Suffice  it  to  say,  that  in 
the  passage  before  us  the  exhortation  to  repentance 
and  a  holy  life  is  expressed  under  the  metaphor  of 
ploughing  and  sowing,  and  the  promise  of  mercy  is 
conveyed  under  a  similar  metaphor  of  rain  upon  the 
seed  sown,  and  of  reaping  a  joyful  harvest. 

We  are  told,  then,  in  the  first  instance  to  "  sow  in 
righteousness :"  and  what  this  injunction  involves  we 
2* 


14  »  SOWING   AND    REAPING. 

may  gather  from  a  consideration  of  the  state  of  those 
persons  to  whom  it  was  originally  addressed.  These, 
as  we  have  seen,  were  the  House  of  Israel :  and  when 
we  remember  that  Hosea  prophesied  during  the  days 
of  Uzziah,  Jotham,  Ahaz,  and  Hezekiah,  kings  of 
Judah, — that  he  was,  in  short,  a  contemporary  of 
Isaiah,  we  must,  of  course,  remember  likewise,  that 
the  transgressions  both  of  Israel  and  Judah  had  then 
well  nigh  reached  their  height ;  that  they  were  "  a 
sinful  nation,  a  people  laden  with  iniquity,  a  seed  of 
evil  doers,  children  that  were  corrupters ;"  who  had 
"forsaken  the  Lord,"  revolting  more  and  more,  so 
that  "  the  whole  head  was  sick,  and  the  whole  heart 
faint ;  and  from  the  sole  of  the  foot  unto  the  head 
there  was  no  soundness  in  it,  but  wounds,  and 
bruises,  and  putrifying  sores.'^ 

Such  being  the  state  of  God's  favoured  and  rebel- 
lious people  when  they  were  enjoined  to  sow  unto 
righteousness,  it  follows  that  that  command  implied 
nothing  short  of  a  complete  and  entire  change  in  all 
their  ways  and  habits, — a  thorough,  unshrinking 
reformation, — an  unqualified  turning  from  sin  to  God. 

And  nothing  short  of  this  is  required  of  us.  It  is 
to  be  hoped,  that  by  God's  great  mercy,  we  have 
been  so  far  preserved  from  breaking  our  baptismal 
vows,  that  none  of  us  are  in  the  actual  state  of  open 
transgression,  which  they  were,  whom  the  prophet 


SOWING    AND    REAPING.  15 

Hosea  speaks  of,  as  having  "  ploughed  wickedness," 
and  as  being  ^'  reapers  of  iniquity ;"  but  if  at  this 
time  we  are  not  harbouring  some  cherished  sin,  it  is 
to  be  presumed  that  there  are  a  few  of  us  who,  at 
some  period  or  other,  have  not  continued  for  a  longer 
or  a  shorter  space  in  deliberate  and  wilful  transgres- 
sion :  all  have  to  bewail  an  interminable  catalogue  of 
negligences  and  ignorances :  and  all  have  the  evidence 
within  themselves  of  an  inherited  nature  so  corrupt, 
that  from  the  sole  of  the  foot  unto  the  head  there  is 
no  soundness  in  it ; — of  a  nature  in  which  the  flesh 
lusteth  always  contrary  to  the  spirit,  and  with  which, 
even  to  the  last,  the  spirit  must  make  war. 

Now  this  "fallow  ground," — this  soil, so  hard  and 
sterile,  or  so  rank  and  matted  together  with  roots  of 
noxious  weeds,  must  be  broken  up.  Our  hearts, 
which,  in  spite  of  our  baptismal  privileges,  retain 
within  them  their  original  infection,  must  be  brought 
into  a  state  of  religious  cultivation.  Vicious  inclina- 
tions, sensual  appetites,  inordinate  affections  must  be 
rooted  up.  The  tares  must  be  gathered  together  in 
bundles  and  burned.  The  soil  must  be  ploughed  ; — 
that  which  lay  below  must  be  brought  up  to  the  sur- 
face, and  exposed  to  the  light  of  day.  Self-knowledge 
and  self-discipline  must  do  their  work,  and  the  whole 
field  be  made  fit  for  the  reception  and  growth  of  the 
seed  of  righteousness. 


16  SOWING   AND   REAPING. 

And  this  if  we  do,  the  text  leads  us  to  hope  that 
we  shall  reap  in  mercy;  that  is  to  say,  we  shall 
receive  from  the  merciful  hand  of  God  our  Father, 
an  abundant  reward  of  unfading  happiness,  and 
glory,  eternal  in  the  heavens. 

Here,  then,  is  the  broad  fact  laid  down,  that  if  we 
lead  righteous  lives  here,  discharging  our  duties  to 
God  and  man,  we  shall  certainly  meet  a  reward 
hereafter.  But  since,  when  thus  stated,  it  may  seem 
to  follow,  that  our  works  are  the  immediate  cause  of 
our  salvation,  I  proceed  to  show  you  that  the  mainte- 
nance of  any  such  opinion  would  be  the  most  perilous 
and  fatal  error  ijito  which  we  could  fall^  and  to 
explain  in  what  sense  the  statement  is  true,  and  in 
what  sense  it  is  not. 

With  this  object  in  view  I  shall  endeavour  to 
establish  these  two  points:  first,  that  we  have  no 
grounds  whatever  to  expect  a  harvest  of  mercy,  with- 
out a  previous  sowing  time  of  righteousness ;  that  is, 
that  we  must  not  hope  for  God's  favour  unless  we 
fulfil  what  He  has  enjoined ;  and  secondly,  that  when 
we  have  fulfilled  what  He  has  enjoined,  we  must  not 
plead  any  merit  of  our  own  in  having  done  so,  but 
must  look  for  the  reward  of  our  righteousness  only 
from  the  free  grace  and  mercy  of  God. 

And  now  with  regard  to  the  first  of  these  proposi- 
tions.   We  shall  not  reap  in  mercy,  unless  and  until 


SOWING    AND    REAPING.  17 

we  have  sown  in  righteousness.  Without  a  holy  Ufe 
here,  no  man  need  expect  or  hope  for  a  happy  Ufe 
hereafter. 

This  is  a  truth  which  I  need  not  multiply  quota- 
tions to  establish.  St.  Paul  distinctly  assures  us  in 
his  epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  "  that  without  holiness 
no  man  shall  see  the  Lord/'  and  in  his  first  letter 
to  the  Corinthians,  he  maintains  the  same  doctrine 
with  equal  clearness.  "Know  ye  not,"  saith  he, 
"  that  the  unrighteous  shall  not  inherit  the  kingdom 
of  God  ?  Be  not  deceived :  neither  fornicators,  nor 
idolators,  nor  adulterers,  nor  effeminate,  nor  abusers 
of  themselves  with  mankind,  nor  thieves,  nor  covet- 
ous, nor  drunkards,  nor  revilers,  nor  extortioners 
shall  inherit  the  kingdom  of  God."  God  is  holy, 
and  therefore  His  kingdom  must  be  holy,  and  He 
will  admit  nothing  into  His  kingdom  which  is  not 
holy.  To  expect  to  enter  that  without  holiness, 
would  be  as  absurd  as  for  the  husbandman  to  expect 
a  harvest,  who  has  not  tilled  the  ground,  nor  sown 
it  with  seed:  and  so  the  Apostle  whom  I  have 
already  quoted  declares  to  us.  "  Be  not  deceived,'' 
he  writes  to  the  Galatians,  "  God  is  not  mocked ;  for 
whatsoever  a  man  soweth,  that  shall  he  also  reap. 
For  he  that  soweth  to  the  flesh,  shall  of  the  flesh 
reap  corruption :  but  he  that  soweth  to  the  spirit, 
shall  of  the  spirit  reap  life  everlasting," 


18  SOWING   AND    REAPING. 

Surely  if  it  be  possible  to  state  a  truth  plainly  and 
unequivocally,  it  has  been  done  so  in  the  passages 
which  I  have  quoted  to  you.  One  would  have 
thought  that  in  this  case,  at  least,  there  could  be  no 
doubt  as  to  the  true  meaning  of  Scripture.  And 
yet,  even  here,  errors  have  arisen  to  darken  and 
obscure  the  truth  of  God,  for  both  the  indolence  and 
the  pride  of  men  have  led  them  to  devise  some 
easier  way  of  salvation  than  that  which  is  offered 
in  the  Word  of  God;  and  accordingly,  some  have 
asserted  that  there  is  no  necessity  of  righteousness 
in  ourselves,  since  Christ's  righteousness  is  our's,  so 
soon  as  we  rely  upon  Him ;  and  others  have  taught 
that  so  as  a  man  fears  hell,  purposes  amendment  of 
life,  and  confesses  his  sins  to  the  priest,  he  is  safe 
from  perdition,  and  will  reap  in  mercy,  though  he 
has  neglected  to  sow  in  righteousness. 

The  fact  is,  that  if  we  look  into  the  various  errors 
into  which  men  have  fallen,  on  the  subject  of  religion, 
we  shall  find  that  those  errors  spring,  for  the  most 
part  from  the  spirit  of  convenience  and  self-indul- 
gence. If  a  doctrine  be  unpalatable,  it  is  denied ; 
or,  if  that  be  possible,  it  is  so  qualified,  or  softened 
down,  or  explained  away,  or  thrown  into  the  back 
ground,  that  practically  it  is  rejected  altogether,  by 
those  who  oppose  themselves  to  it,  even  though  they 
admit  that  it  is  to  be  found  in  the  Word  of  God. 


SOWING    AND    REAPING.  19 

When  men  dare  not  attempt  to  kill  the  truth,  they 
do  what  they  can  to  starve  it.  And  this  they  do, 
even  while  they  know  it  to  be  the  truth.  When  the 
reason  is  unwillingly  convinced,  it  remains,  so  far  as 
effects  are  concerned,  unsatisfied  still.  A  bare  assent 
of  the  understanding  is  no  guarantee  for  future  exer- 
tion. Men  may  be  abundantly  convinced  that  they 
who  would  reap  in  mercy,  must  sow  in  righteousness ; 
and  yet  as  hourly  experience  shows,  it  is  no  easy  task 
to  induce  them  to  deny  all  ungodliness,  and  worldly 
lusts,  and  to  live  soberly,  righteously,  and  godly  in 
this  present  world.  They  will,  if  they  can,  make 
religion  easier  to  themselves  than  God.  has  made  it. 

And  this  consideration  suggests  a  very  awful 
thought.  If  those  who  admit  the  truth  are  so  indis- 
posed to  obey  it,  what  must  be  the  case  of  those  who 
allow  themselves  in  principles  which  confound  the 
distinctions  of  right  and  wrong : — who,  as  the  prophet 
says,  "call  evil  good,  and  good  evil,  who  put  dark- 
ness for  light,  and  light  for  darkness?"  Of  such 
persons  it  was  that  our  Blessed  Lord  spake,  when 
He  declared,  "  If  the  light  within  thee  be  darkness, 
how  great  is  that  darkness.'^  Of  the  peril  of  their  con- 
dition the  Apostle  spake,  when  he  warned  Titus,  that 
while  to  the  pure  all  things  are  pure,  yet  "unto  them 
that  are  defiled  and  unbelieving  is  nothing  pure  ;  but 
even  their  mind  and  conscience   is  defiled.     They 


20  SOWING    AND    REAPING. 

profess  that  they  know  God;  but  in  works  they  deny 
Him,  being  abominable,  and  disobedient,  and  unto 
every  good  work  reprobate." 

Such  and  so  great  being  the  perils  of  those,  who 
either  reject  God's  commandment,  or  who  make  it  of 
none  affect,  through  their  traditions,  I  trust  that  you, 
who  assuredly  cannot  plead  ignorance,  will  take  good 
care  that  you  be  not  condemned  hereafter,  for  delib- 
erately resolving  not  to  act  up  to  your  convictions. 
The  world  may  suggest  a  hundred  reasons,  besides 
its  own  evil  and  contagious  example,  why  you  should 
not  obey  the  law  of  Christ  in  all  its  strictness ;  and 
your  own  hearts  may  tempt  you  to  listen  to  those 
who  would  teach  you,  that  a  seed  time  of  righteous- 
ness is  not  indispensable  for  those  who  would  reap  a 
harvest  of  mercy.  But  let  the  world  and  your  own 
hearts  say  what  they  will,  do  you  believe  Him  Who 
made  them  both.  Who  knows  them  both,  and  Who  is 
coming  to  judge  both.  For  He,  by  the  mouth  of  His 
Apostle,  hath  declared  that  in  that  day  of  wrath  and 
righteous  judgment,  "  He  will  render  to  every  man 
according  to  his  deeds.  To  them  who,  by  patient 
continuance  in  well  doing,  seek  for  glory  and  honour 
and  immortalit}^,  eternal  life ;  but  unto  them  that  are 
contentious,  and  do  not  obey  the  truth,  but  ohey  i^n- 
righteousness,  indignation  and  wrath,  tribulation  and 
anguish,  upon  every  soul  of  man  that  doeth  evil." 


SOWING    AND    REAPING.  21 

And  now  I  must  pass  on  to  the  last  point  to  be  con- 
sidered, namely,  that  the  reward  of  our  service,  if,  as 
good  husbandmen,  we  sow  in  righteousness,  is  not 
to  be  looked  for  as  of  right,  but  as  the  gift  of  the 
free  Grace  and  Mercy  of  God. 

And  really,  to  look  at  the  matter  in  any  other  point 
of  view  seems  so  shocking  to  any  well-regulated  mind, 
which  has  learned  to  measure  its  own  deficiency  and 
weakness,  and  has  habitually  watched  the  workings 
of  its  indwelling  corruption,  that  it  seems  almost  an 
offence  against  God  to  speak  as  though  it  were 
possible  that  any  could  so  far  deceive  themselves  as 
to  imagine  that  anything  they  could  do  would  merit 
a  reward. 

For  what  are  we  that  we  should  boast  ?  A  fallen 
race,  outcasts  from  Paradise,  born  in  sin,  tainted,  cor- 
rupted, defiled :  owing  our  only  chance  of  salvation 
to  the  free  mercy  of  God,  admitting  us  into  covenant 
at  Baptism,  and  requiring  of  us  as  our  part  of  the 
covenant,  that  we  should  keep  His  holy  will  and 
commandments,  and  walk  in  the  same  all  the  days  of 
our  life ;  and  who,  therefore,  when  we  have  done  all, 
have  only  done  what  was  required  of  us,  and  what 
we  have  engaged  ourselves  to  do ;  and  who,  in  point 
of  fact,  never  perform  the  hundred-thousandth  part  of 
our  duty  in  any  one  respect !  And  who,  in  those 
points  wherein  we  are  not  utterly  deficient,  owe  our 
3 


22  SOWING    AND    REAPING. 

ability  to  the  assistance  and  co-operating  grace  of 
God  the  Holy  Ghost,  as  freely,  as  undeservedly 
vouchsafed  to  us,  in  order  to  give  us  a  good  will,  and 
working  with  us  when  we  have  it.  Who  are  we, 
that  merit  and  we  should  ever  be  named  together ; 
when  every  hour  of  every  day  is  adding  some  item 
against  us  in  those  books  from  which  we  shall  be 
judged  at  last  ?  When  even  our  best  actions,  when 
judged  fairly  by  ourselves,  must  betray  in  them  the 
corruption  of  mixed  and  worldly  motives,  and,  there- 
fore, before  Him  in  whose  sight  the  very  angels  are 
not  pure,  must  be  altogether  sullied  and  defiled  ? 

But  granting  our  seed-time  of  righteousness  ever 
so  perfect  or  so  plenteous,  how  is  God  the  better  for 
it,  that  he  should  be  constrained  to  pay  us  wages  for 
it  ?  How  can  He  be  the  better  for  usy — He  who 
sitteth  between  the  Cherubim,  Infinite,  Eternal, 
Almighty,  undisturbed  by  the  madness  of  man,  God 
over  all,  blessed  for  ever,  disposing  all  things  by  the 
Word  of  His  power,  complete  in  His  own  perfections, 
and  having  need  of  nothing  in  the  fruition  and  tran- 
quillity of  heaven,  which  is  calm,  and  deep,  and 
measureless,  unfading,  unchanging,  unalloyed  ?  What 
profit  or  advantage  can  we,  or  all  the  creatures  that 
ever  lived  and  died,  be  to  Him?  No,  brethren. 
His  gracious  intercourse  with  us,  is  not  for  His  own 
sake,  but  for  our's.     Our  worst  rebellion  hurts  him 


SOWING    AND    REAPING.  23 

not,  but  ourselves,  and  our  most  devoted  service  is 
not  to  His  advantage  but  to  our  own.  '*  If  we  sow 
in  righteousness,"  as  it  has  been  well  said,  "  we  sow 
to  ourselves,  and  the  harvest  of  this  righteousness  we 
ourselves  reap."  But  granting  for  a  single  moment, 
and  for  argument's  sake,' that  any  acts  of  ours  were 
such  as  could  endure  to  be  weighed  in  the  balance 
before  God,  with  the  view  to  their  obtaining  a 
deserved  reward  ;  yet  what  proportion  and  compari- 
son would  there  be  between  our  works  of  righteous- 
ness and  the  expected  reward?  The  service  of  a 
lifetime  to  merit  an  eternal  weight  of  glory  !  The 
partial  obedience  of  divided  allegiance  to  claim  the 
recompense  of  a  fulness  of  joy  at  God's  right  hand 
for  ever !  Why,  there  is  presumption  in  the  very 
'mention  of  it ;  and  to  hold  such  a  doctrine  were  blas- 
phemy ! 

I  will  conclude  in  the  words  of  Bishop  Bull,  whose 
teaching  and  arguments  I  have  followed  in  this  dis- 
course. 

"He  that  hath  sown  the  seeds  of  righteousness 
most  plentifully,  must  look  for  his  harvest  of  glory 
only  from  the  mercy  of  God.  He  that  is  richest  in 
good  works  must  sue  for  heaven  in  the  quality  of  a 
poor  worthless  creature,  that  needs  infinite  mercy  to 
bring  him  thither :  mercy  to  pardon  his  sins  antece- 
dent to  his  good  works ;  mercy  to  forgive  the  sins 


24  SOWING   AND   REAPING. 

and  defects  in  his  works;  mercy  to  advance  his 
works  to  the  possibility  of  attaining  an  infinite  and 
endless  reward.  He  must  confess  with  St.  Paul,  that 
*  Eternal  life  is  the  gift  of  God  through  Jesus  Christ.' 
That  it  is  the  rich  purchase  of  Christ's  most  precious 
blood,  by  which  alone  a  covenant  of  eternal  life  was 
established  upon  the  gracious  condition  of  ^  faith 
working  by  love  ;'  that  it  was  the  grace  of  the  Divine 
Spirit  promised  in  the  same  covenant,  that  prevented 
him,  and  co-operated  with  him,  and  continually 
assisted  and  followed  him  in  all  his  good  works :  and 
consequently,  that  though  his  crown  of  glory  be  '  a 
crown  of  righteousness,^  that  is  of  God's  righteous- 
ness, whereby  He  is  obliged  to  make  good  His  own 
covenant ;  yet  that  it  is  a  crown  of  mercy  too,  because 
that  covenant  itself  was  a  covenant  of  infinite  grace ' 
and  mercy. 

Here  then  is  the  sum  of  the  whole  matter.  We 
shall  not  be  saved  for  our  works,  but  we  shall 
never  be  saved  without  them.  And  knowing  this, 
let  us  pray,  and  labour,  and  strive,  that  no  day  may 
pass  over  our  heads  without  our  having  made  some 
progress  in  the  work  of  sowing  unto  righteousness ; 
let  us  watch  ourselves  the  more  carefully,  the  more 
progress  we  make,  lest  any  taint  of  self-righteousness 
should  render  our  poor  service  hateful  instead  of 
acceptable  to   God:  and  while  we  cheerfully  and 


SOWING    AND    REAPING.  25 

hopefully  endeavour  to  work  out  our  own  salvation, 
as  knowing  that  it  is  God  which  worketh  in  us  both 
to  will  and  to  do,  of  His  good  pleasure ;  let  us  cast 
away  every  high  imagination,  and  own  ourselves,  as 
in  truth  we  are,  to  be  most  wretched  and  miserable, 
and  worthless ;  let  our  prayers  of  acceptance  be  ever 
couched  in  some  such  humble  words  as  these,  "  God, 
for  Thy  dear  Son's  sake,  be  merciful  to  me  a  sinner !' 


SERMON  II. 


FORGETFULNESS  OF  GOD. 

Psalm  ix.  17. 

The  wicked  shall  be  turned  into  hell :   and  all  the  people  that 
•  forget  God. 

It  is  to  be  feared  that  through  our  famiUarity  with 
the  words  of  Scripture,  we  often  times  lose  the  force 
of  what  those  words  contain,  just  as  we  are  frequently 
tempted  to  repeat  the  prayers  which  we  know  by 
heart,  without  thinking  of  their  meaning,  or  of  Him 
whom  we  address.  Not  a  day,  it  is  to  be  presumed, 
goes  over  our  heads  but  we  repeat  the  Lord's  Prayer, 
for  instance,  twice  at  least ;  and  yet  who  will  say 
that  this  very  habit  of  using  the  most  perfect  of  all 
prayers  so  frequently,  does  not  prove  a  snare  to  him ; 
— that  there  are  times  in  which,  though  he  says  the 
prayer,  he  does  not  pray, — that  though  he  repeats 
the  several  clauses  one  after  another,  he  attaches  no 
meaning  to  them,  so  that  he  both  worships  he  knows 
not  what,  and  asks  he  knows  not  what  ? 


28  rORGETFULNESS    OF    GOD. 

So  again  in  another  instance.  I  suppose  if  we  had 
never  heard  it  before,  the  gladdest  tidings  that  ever 
fell  upon  our  ears  would  be  those  in  which  is  repeated 
to  us,  so  soon  as  we  have  made  the  general  confession 
of  our  sins  at  the  commencement  of  Divine  Service, 
the  declaration  that  God  has  given  power  and  com- 
mandment to  the  Ministers  of  His  Holy  Catholic 
Church  to  declare  and  pronounce  to  His  people,  being 
penitent,  the  absolution  and  remission  of  their  sins. 
What  comfort  is  here  for  the  weary  and  heavy  laden 
soul,  over-burdened  with  a  load  of  sins  from  the  guilt 
and  punishment  of  which  it  knows  not  how  to  escape! 
And  yet,  because  this  message  of  mercy  from  our 
Heavenly  Father  is  thus  graciously  delivered  on  each 
fresh  occasion  of  our  expressing  contrition,  we  listen 
to  it  as  a  matter  of  course,  and  k)o  often,  it  is  to  be 
feared,  without  being  at  all  seriously  affected,  or 
moved  by  it. 

Now  there  have  been  those  who,  from  their  expe- 
rience that  the  mind  is  apt  to  grow  inattentive  to 
objects  with  which  it  is  familiar,  have  condemned  all 
forms  of  prayer,  as  tending  to  make  men  careless 
and  indevout.  Men  cannot  repeat  the  prayers  which 
they  have  been  in  the  habit  of  using  from  their  youth 
up,  without  sometimes  saying  them  mechanically, 
and  thereby  offending  God,  and  perilling  their  own 
souls ;  and,  therefore,  t4iese  persons  argue,  that  it  is 


FORGETFULNESS    OF    GOD.  29 

better  to  lay  aside  such  services  as  those  which, 
blessed  be  God !  we  find  prescribed  for  our  use  iu 
our  own  branch  of  the  Church  Catholic. 

Now,  (not  to  observe  that  where  a  minister  and 
congregation  are  concerned,  an^  prayer  used  by  the 
former,  must  be  a  form  to  the  latter,  whether  it  be 
read  from  a  book  or  poured  forth  without  premedita- 
tion,) I  would  just  remark,  that  this  argument,  if  it 
proves  anything,  proves  too  much.  If  we  are  to  lay 
aside  the  repetition  of  a  well-known  prayer  because 
there  is  danger  that  our  familiarity  with  it  may  make 
us  heedless,  we  may,  upon  the  same  ground,  give  up 
the  habit  of  reading  the  Bible,  for  there  is  just  the 
same  risk  that  the  more  intimate  we  are  with  its 
contents,  the  more  we  may  lose  the  sense  of  awe 
and  reverence  with  which  we  always  ought  to 
peruse  it. 

How  much  better  would  it  be,  if,  instead  of  bewil- 
dering themselves  with  such  a  fallacy  as  this,  people 
would  learn  to  suspect  themselves,  and  endeavour  to 
ascertain  whether  the  blame  may  not  rather  rest  on 
their  own  shoulders  than  in  the  quarter  where  they 
are  disposed  to  throw  it.  It  is,  of  course,  much 
pleasanter  to  find  faults  any  where  rather  than  in 
ourselves ;  and  it  is  no  easy  matter  to  get  the  mastery 
over  our  indolence  and  waywardness ;  but  the  way 
of  safety  is  a  way  of  difficulties. 


30  FORGETFULNESS   OF    GOD. 

When,  therefore,  we  find  that  formalism  begins  to 
attend  our  prayers,  we  had  better  look  to  ourselves, 
before  we  condemn  the  prayers.  And  this  if  we  do, 
we  shall,  by  God's  mercy,  be  led  to  find  the  true 
causes  of  our  indevotion,  to  guard  against  them,  and 
to  make  the  discovery  that  since  prayer  is  as  much 
a  habit  as  anything  else,  he  who  prays  the  Tuost,  will 
pray  the  best ;  and,  as  he  who  confines  himself  to 
one  branch  of  a  business  will  be  a  better  workman 
than  he  who  attends  to  several,  so  he  who  uses  the 
same  forms  of  prayer,  continually,  will  enter  into 
their  spirit  better  than  he,  who,  in  his  constant  search 
after  novelty,  thinks  more  of  himself  than  of  God. 

And  now  to  apply  what  has  been  said  to  the  pas- 
sage to  which  I  would  call  your  attention.  The  text 
conveys  a  great  and  awful  truth ;  but  it  is  a  truth 
which  is  so  continually  repeated  in  every  part  of 
Scripture,  and  to  which,  therefore,  our  minds  are  so 
habituated,  that  we  hear  it,  perhaps,  without  thinking 
more  about  it,  than,  admitting  the  doctrine  generally, 
we  contrive  to  satisfy  our  minds  that  the  threatening 
does  not  apply  to  us,  and  that,  terrible  as  the  denun- 
ciation is,  there  are  other  parts  of  Scripture,  in  which 
the  future  doom  of  transgressors  is  more  vividly  and 
strikingly  depicted. 

This,  or  something  like  it,  is  probably  the  reflection 
that  occurs  to  us,  when  the  passage  is  read  in  the 


FORGETFULNESS    OF    GOD.  31 

ordinary  course  of  the  Psalms,  if  we  are  allowing 
ourselves  in  that  careless  state  of  mind  which  I  have 
been  condemning. 

And  yet  there  is  a  consideration  connected  with 
this  text,  which  is  enough  to  make  even  the  most 
advanced  Christian  to  fear  and  tremble  when  it 
occurs  to  him. 

If,  in  David's  day,  when  men  were  under  the  law, 
and  had  no  promise  of  the  abiding  presence  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  the  Comforter  to  "  teach  them  all  things, 
^ndi  bring  all  things  to  their  remembrance,^^  it  was 
a  known  and  recognised  truth  that  they  who  forgat 
God  should  be  turned  into  hell ;  what  fate  must  they 
expect  who,  having  been  admitted  into  the  Church 
by  Baptism,  and  having,  therefore,  the  assurance  that 
the  Spirit  dwelleth  in  them,  do  yet  fail  to  remember 
their  Creator,  Redeemer,  and  Sanctifier  ?  Is  it  possible 
to  find  any  excuse  for  those  who  are  forgetful,  merely 
because  they  will  not  apply  to  *the  Remembrancer, 
Who  is  within  them, — for  those  who  have  "the 
anointing  which  they  have  received  of  Him,  abiding 
in  them,"  and  who  therefore  "need  not  that  any  man 
teach  them,"  (that  is,  require,  in  this  respect,  no 
outward  aids,)  seeing  they  have  the  Witness  in  them- 
selves? Is  it  possible  that  forgetfulness, — so  often 
alleged  as  an  excuse  under  sudden  temptation,  can  in 
their  case  be  anything  else  but  an  adding  of  sin  to  sin  ? 


32  rORGETFULNESS    OF    GOD. 

Now  let  us  take  this  view  of  the  text,  and  see  what 
lessons  and  warnings  it  may  bring  home  to  our  hearts 
and  consciences. 

"  The  wicked  shall  be  turned  into  hell ;  and  all 
the  people  that  forget  God.'^  We  admit  the  fact ; 
but  we  ward  off,  as  it  were,  the  blow  which  seems 
threatening  to  fall  on  ourselves,  who,  we  trust,  are  not 
among  the  openly  and  notoriously  wicked,  by  assum- 
ing that  those  who  "forget  God"  altogether  are  few 
in  number,  and  we  have  the  testimony  of  conscience 
that  we  ourselves  are  not  of  that  number.  We  do 
not  remember  God  as  much  as  we  ought,  but  still  we 
do  not  forget  Him; 

Now  in  one  sense  this  is  quite  true.  I  believe  that 
no  one  who  has  once  heard  of  God  can  forget  Him, 
even  if  he  desires  it  ever  so.  A  man  may  apostatize 
from  the  faith,  and  fall  so  low,  that  like  the  fool  of 
whom  the  Psalmist  speaks,  "  He  may  say  in  his  heart, 
There  is  no  God."  But  think  you  (hat  this  will 
banish  the  thought  of  God  from  his  mind?  Think 
you  that  memory  will  fail  when  invited  to  do  so  ? 
That  oblivion  is  an  act  of  volition  ?  Or  that  conscience 
can  be  lulled  to  sleep  when  we  will  ?  No,  we  can  no 
more  escape  the  sound  of  its  small  stern  voice,  than 
we  can,  by  a  wish,  stop  the  brain  from  exercising  its 
functions,  or  destroy  our  sensibility  to  pain.  A  man 
may  deny  God,  and  resolve  to  forget  Him.     He  can 


FOKGETFULNESS    OF    GOD.  33 

do  the  one,  but  the  other  is  beyond  his  power :  the 
devils  themselves,  they  who  have  more  power  than 
man,  and  more  cause  why  they  should  strive  to  keep 
the  thought  of  God  from  their  hearts,  cannot  do  it, 
and  for  man  to  do  it  is  impossible.  He  may  exclude 
himself  from  every  thing  outward  which  may  suggest 
the  remembrance  to  his  mind,  he  may  go  far,  very 
far  in  unbelief:  he  may  almost  persuade  himself  to 
be  an  infidel.  Jllmost,  not  quite.  And  the  one 
thought  which  comes  creeping  in  unbidden,  when  he 
is  off  his  guard,  that  after  all  there  may  be  a  God,  is 
enough  to  drive  sleep  from  his  pillow.  It  may  not 
be  probable ;  it  maybe  barely  possible.  But  so  long 
as  that  shadow  of  a  chance  is  not  got  rid  of,  farewell 
to  peace.  And  get  rid  of  it  he  cannot.  The  thought 
of  it  robs  him  of  his  armour  wherein  he  trusted,  and 
comes  upon  him  when  he  cannot  escape  from  it,  like 
that  terrible  vision  which  haunted  the  couch  of  the 
afflicted  Patriarch:  "In  thoughts  from  the  visions  of 
the  night,  when  deep  sleep  falleth  on  men,  Fear  came 
upon  me,  and  trembling,  which  made  all  my  bones 
to  shake.  Then  a  spirit  passed  before  my  face  ;  the 
hair  of  my  flesh  stood  up  :  It  stood  still,  but  I  could 
not  discern  the  form  thereof:  an  image  was  before 
mine  eyes,  there  was  silence  and  I  heard  a  voice, 
saying,  *  Shall  mortal  man  be  more  just  than  God  ? 
Shall  a  man  be  more  pure  than  his  Maker  V  " 
4 


34  rORGETFULNESS    OF    GOD. 

But,  my  brethren,  if  even  the  professed  Infidel,  he 
•who  pretends  to  believe  that  there  is  no  God,  is  still, 
in  spite  of  himself,  unable  to  forget  Him,  the  mere 
profligate  and  worldly-minded  man  is  even  less  able 
to  do  so.  True,  God  is  not  in  all  his  thoughts :  but 
He  is  in  some  of  them.  And  the  remembrance  of 
an  offended  Judge,  whose  wrath  is  as  sure  as  it  is 
irresistible,  will  inevitably  come  between  such  a  per- 
son and  his  guilty  pleasures.  I  do  not  say  that  long 
habits  of  sin  will  not  deaden  the  voice  of  conscience, 
and  cause  the  Holy  Spirit  to  strive  less  and  less  with 
the  guilty  soul,  but  even  in  the  most  hardened  there 
will  be  seasons  when,  do  what  it  may,  it  cannot 
escape  from  forebodings  of  God's  anger,  and  of  the 
worm  that  dieth  not.  And  we  have  the  evidence  of 
many  a  transgressor  to  the  fact,  that  when  all  he  most 
desired  was  in  his  reach,  the  gratification  of  his  lust, 
his  covetousness,  his  pride,  his  malice,  or  his  dis- 
honesty,— still,  in  the  moment  of  fruition,  the  power 
of  enjoyment  was  taken  away,  by  that  small  voice, 
which  bade  him  think  of  the  future  consequences  of 
his  act.  "  There  is  no  peace,  saith  my  God,  to  the 
wicked." 

It  appears  then,  that  in  one  sense,  even  the  most 
ungodly  man  alive  does  not  forget  God.  The  text, 
therefore  must  apply  to  something  short  of  total 
forgetfulness :  and  if  it  does,  then  there  is  very  good 


FORGETFULNESS    OF    GOD.  35 

cause  why  it  should  set  us  upon  examining  ourselves ; 
for  although  it  is  evident  that  even  if  we  would,  we 
could  not  altogether  forget  God,  it  is,  nevertheless, 
much  to  be  feared  that  none  of  us  remember  Him  as 
we  ought  to  do. 

Now  which  be  they  who  can  be  said  to  forget 
God?  I  answer  all  those  who  do  not  habitually 
remember  Him;  who  do  not  make  it  their  first 
object  on  every  occasion  to  learn  how  He  would 
have  them  act ;  v/ho  do  not  take  His  law  for  a  lantern 
to  their  feet  and  a  light  unto  their  paths ;  and  who 
do  not  make  obedience  to  His  will  the  rule  of  their 
existence,  as  conscious  that  He  is  near  them  and 
sees  them  at  all  times. 

And  such  persons  may  be  found  among  those  who 
are  in  the  world's  opinion  decent  and  respectable, 
whose  morals  are  unexceptionable,  and  who  are 
diligent  in  attendance  on  all  the  outward  ordinances 
of  the  Church. 

For  instance,  a  man  may  be  regular  in  his  daily 
prayers  at  home,  regular  in  frequenting  public  wor- 
ship :  and  yet  if  he  does  this  as  a  mere  form,  uttering 
words  with  his  lips,  while  his  heart,  and  soul,  and 
affections  are  occupied  with  something  else,  and  thus 
insulting  Him,  whose  long-suffering  has  borne  with 
his  manifold  transgressions,  and  Whose  bountiful 
goodness  has  given  him  life  and  health,  and  all  things, 


36  rORGETFULNESS    OF    GOD. 

what  can  be  said  of  such  an  one  but  that  he  "forgets 
God?"  And  in  proportion,  as  any  of  us  give  way 
to  this  temptation,  do  we  involve  ourselves  in  the 
condemnation  pronounced  in  the  text. 

So  again,  the  man  who  is  afraid  of  doing  what  he 
knows  to  be  right,  lest  he  should  incur  the  ridicule 
of  the  world,  and  be  set  down  as  weak-minded,  and 
bigoted,  and  enthusiastic :  or  he  who  does  what  is 
right,  but  professes  to  do  so  on  other  grounds  than 
because  he  desires  to  serve  God,  is  not  he  one  who 
has  forgotten  that  the  Lord  his  God  is  a  jealous  God  ? 
Has  he  not  reason  to  apply  to  himself  that  fearfnl 
threat; "  Whosoever  shall  be  ashamed  of  Me  and  of  My 
words  in  this  sinful  and  adulterous  generation,  of  him 
shall  the  Son  of  Man  be  ashamed  when  He  cometh 
in  the  glory  of  His  Father  with  the  Holy  angels?" 
Now  seeing  that  as  there  are  various  manners  of  com- 
mitting this  sin,  so  there  are  various  degrees  of  guilt 
attaching  thereto,  it  will  be  well  for  each  of  us  to 
ascertain  that  we  have  in  this  respect  altogether 
escaped  the  crime  of  forgetting  God.  And  when  we 
remember  the  compromises  men  make  with  their 
consciences,  and  their  cowardly  contrivances  for 
escaping  the  charge  of  being  righteous  overmuch  ; 
when  we  reflect  with  what  sensitiveness  we  shrink 
from  any  step  which  seems  like  opposition  to  the  way 
of  the  worlds  have  we  not  cause  for  apprehension  lest 


FORGETFULNESS    OF    GOD.  37 

we  may  have  m  a  greater,  or  lesser  measure,  denied 
our  Lord  ? 

Again ;  what  shall  be  said  of  those  who  act  habit- 
ually as  though  they  were  unmindful  of  the  attributes 
of  God  ?  of  His  all-seeing  eye,  and  fatherly  hand  ? 
of  His  power,  and  purity,  and  truth,  and  mercy,  and 
justice?  of  those  who  comfort  themselves  with  the 
profane,  irreverent  thought  that  He  is  even  such  an 
one  as  themselves,  and  that  therefore  He  will  sacrifice 
one  attribute  to  another,  be  merciful  at  the  expense  of 
His  justice,  or  sacrifice  His  truth  to  His  tender  com- 
passion ?  Are  not  such  persons  forgetful  of  God, 
of  What  He  is,  and  Who  He  is  ?  And  are  not  each 
of  us  liable  to  fall  into  the  same  condemnation, 
whereinsoever  we  indulge  the  thought  that  He  will 
appear  on  the  judgment  seat,  under  a  different  char- 
acter from  that  in  which  He  has  revealed  Himself  to 
us  in  the  Bible  ? 

From  what  has  been  said,  you  will,  I  think,  per- 
ceive that  it  is  no  imaginary  and  unreal  danger 
against  which  I  would  put  you  on  your  guard,  but 
one  that  is  constant,  urgent,  and  the  more  insidious, 
because  less  suspected.  We  all  profess  to  believe  in 
God,  and  to  serve  Him.  We  are  really  subjects  of 
His  kingdom,  and  members  of  His  Church  in  posses- 
sion of  singular  advantages,  and  inestimable  privi- 
leges.  Nominally,  we  are  living  as  if  we  appreciated 


38  FORGETFULNESS    OF    GOD. 

them  ;  but  the  peril  to  us  all  is,  lest  we  should  be  sell- 
deceived,  and  (hke  the  Jews  of  old  time,  who  called 
themselves  the  children  of  Abraham,  while  they 
would  not  do  His  works,)  persuade  ourselves  that 
we  remember  God,  as  He  expects  us  to  remember 
Him,  when,  in  point  of  fact,  we  have  only  just  not 
forgotten  Him  utterly. 

But,  as  I  have  already  reminded  you  in  the  open- 
ing of  this  discourse,  anything  approaching  to  forget- 
fulness  of  God  is  a  far  more  heinous  offence  in  us, 
than  in  those  of  whom  David  spake  in  the  text. 
Unto  whom  much  is  given,  of  him  will  much  be  re- 
quired. From  the  moment  when  we  were  incorporated 
by  baptism  into  the  body  of  Christ,  we  were  no 
longer  in  the  condition  in  which  we  were  by  nature- 
In  ourselves,  as  well  after  Baptism  as  before,  we  are 
helpless  creatures:  but  in  Baptism  we  receive  the 
gift  of  an  in-dwelling  grace  to  enable  us  to  serve  and 
please  God.  We  are,  therefore,  without  excuse  if 
we  forget  Him.  The  Holy  Spirit  was  poured  into 
our  hearts  in  order  that  we  should  not  forget  Him. 
It  is  His  office  to  bring  all  things  to  our  remembrance 
both  as  to  what  we  should  do,  and  what  we  should 
avoid.  The  more  we  obey  His  suggestions,  the  more 
acute  will  become  our  sense  of  obedience  ;  the  more 
we  try  to  remember,  the  more  entirely  will  he  pre- 
serve us  from  forgetting.     At^all  times, and  under  all 


FORGETFULNESS    OF    GOD.  39 

circumstances,  He  is  ready  to  assist  ns,  to  strengthen 
us  in  our  weakness,  and  aid  us  in  the  struggle  with 
ourselves,  the  world,  and  our  spiritual  enemies. 

We  are  liable  to  sudden  temptations,  and  in  their 
suddenness,  to  many  of  us,  at  least,  consists  their 
danger :  but  it  is  under  these  sudden  temptations  that 
the  aid  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  honestly  sought,  is  seen 
to  be  most  strikingly  effectual.  The  more  urgent 
our  need,  the  greater  is  the  strength  He  vouchsafes. 
Therefore,  if,  under  sudden  temptation,  we  fall,  it  is 
a  grievous  thing,  because  there  was  help  at  hand 
which  might  have  saved  us;  but  when  we  have 
fallen,  to  plead  for  get  fulness  as  an  excuse,  is  only 
adding  sin  to  sin,  nay,  rather  offering  a  direct  insult  to 
the  Majesty  of  God,  seeing  that  it  is  tantamount  to  an 
avowal  on  our  part  that  the  Eternal  Spirit — (I  am 
almost  afraid  of  saying  such  a  thing)  either  could  not 
or  would  not  help  us,  or  else  that  we  despised  His 
assistance. 

I  trust  that  what  has  now  been  said  will  induce 
you  to  think  very  seriously  of  the  consequences  of 
excusing  yourselves  in  sin  of  any  kind  ;  for  to  plead 
forgetfulness  is,  in  fact,  an  admission  from  your  own 
lips,  that  you  have  forgotten  God,  and  the  text  de- 
clares that  they  who  forget  Him  shall  be  turned  into 
hell.  We  have  a  corrupt  nature  ;  we  are  in  the  midst 
of  an  evil  world ;  we  are  surrounded  with  bad  ex- 


40  FORGETFULNESS    OF    GOD. 

amples.  All  these  things  are  against  us.  But,  as 
baptized  Christians,  we  are  the  temples  of  God,  and 
God's  Spirit  dwelleth  in  us,  and  therefore  all  excuses 
for  sin  are  taken  away.  It  is  our  own  fault,  if  we 
are  not  enabled  to  stand  upright. 

Since,  then,  these  things  are  so,  let  us  look  well 
into  our  hearts  and  see  whether  ,we  habitually  re- 
member God,  or  habitually  forget  Him.  What  it  is 
to  forget  Him  T  have  shown  you.  To  remember 
Him  is  to  devote  ourselves  to  His  service  :  to  do  all 
we  have  to  do  as  in  his  presence,  to  speak  as  in  His 
hearing ;  to  regulate  our  thoughts,  as  knowing  that 
unto  Him  all  hearts  are  open,  and  desires  known,  and 
that  from  Him  no  secrets  are  hid.  It  is  to  make  "  the 
one  thing  needful,"  the  absorbing  object  of  our 
hopes  and  interests,  the  guage  by  which  all  our 
worldly  affairs  are  tested  and  measured,  the  rule  of 
our  occupations  and  pursuits.  To  remember  God  is 
to  live  in  watchfulness,  and  prayer  and  self-denial. 
It  is  to  have  a  love,  that  loves  nothing  more  than 
Him,  and  a  fear,  that  fears  nothing  but  what  offends 
Him.  It  is  to  have  our  minds  so  full  of  Him,  as  that 
when  they  are  unoccupied  with  the  necessary  duties 
of  our  daily  calling,  instead  of  being  filled  with  vanity 
and  frivolity,  they  naturally  and  habitually  fall  back 
upon  Him,  His  perfections  and  attributes. 

This  it  is  to  remember  God,  and  with  less  than  this 


FORGETFULNESS    OF    GOD.  41 

He  will  not  be  satisfied.  But  if  lie  sees  us  honestly- 
endeavouring  to  attain  to  this,  11^  will  take  us  by  the 
hand,  and  lead  us  from  strength  to  strength.  Re- 
membering Him  in  our  youth,  devoting  to  Him  those 
years  when  the  enemy  is  strongest,  and  danger 
greatest.  He  will  not  forget  us  through  the  course  of 
our  after  existence.  The  earlier  we  seek  Him,  the 
sooner  we  shall  find  Him;  the  more  earnestly  we 
strive  to  do  his  will,  the  better  we  shall  know  it;  the 
more  we  dread  a  fall,  the  more  shall  we  be  enabled 
to  keep  our  footing ;  the  more  we  avail  ourselves  of 
the  grace  given  us,  the  larger  will  be  the  supplies 
conceded  us.  We  shall  be  brought  on  our  way 
rejoicing ;  shall  be  supported  in  dangers,  and  carried 
through  temptations ;  and  when  at  length  we  have 
fought  the  good  fight  of  faith,  and  death  is  about  to 
release  us  from  our  warfare,  we  may  trust  in  humble 
confidence  through  our  Redeemer's  merits,  that  in 
spite  of  our  innumerable  deficiencies,  we  may  hear 
the  Judge's  pardoning  voice  in  that  tremendous  hour, 
when  "  the  wicked  shall  be  turned  into  hell,  and  all 
the  people  that  forget  God." 


SERMON  III. 

CHRISTIAN     PROGRESS. 

Matthew  xix.  20. 

What  lack  I  yet  1 

There  is,  I  trust,  no  danger  that  any  whom  I  now 
address  are  living  under  the  fearful  mistake  of  sup- 
posing that  to  lead  a  pious  life  is  to  merit  that  reward 
of  eternal  happiness  in  heaven,  to  which  all  of  us, 
with  greater  or  less  fervency,  aspire,  as  the  termina- 
tion of  our  prospects  beyond  the  grave.  None  of 
you,  1  am  sure,  can  have  so  far  mistaken  the  doc- 
trines taught  by  your  spiritual  pastors,  as  to  have 
attributed  the  earnestness,  with  which  they  have 
pressed  on  you  the  necessity  of  a  life  of  good  works, 
to  any  belief  on  their  parts,  that  good  works  could 
put  away  our  sins,  and  endure  the  severity  of  God's 
judgment.  You  all  know  that  we  are  accounted 
righteous  before  God  only  for  the  merit  of  our  Lord 
and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  by  Faith,  and  not  for  our 
own  works  and  deservings ;  and  that  although  good 


44  CHRISTIAN    PROGRESS. 

works  are  as  sure  a  test  of  a  lively  Faith,  as  the 
quality  of  the  fruit  is  a  token  of  the  nature  of  the  tree, 
and  are,  therefore,  indispensable,  yet  in  themselves 
they  are  valueless. 

Of  this  fundamental  point  of  our  Church's  teaching, 
the  least  instructed  of  you  cannot  be  ignorant ;  and, 
therefore,  at  present  I  need  not  dwell  on  it  further 
than  to  say,  that  were  any  such  errors  prevalent 
among  us,  the  narrative  of  which  the  text  forms  a 
part,  would  afford  a  lesson  of  deep  and  salutary 
warning  against  them. 

"  Good  master,"  said  the  young  Ruler  of  whom 
the  Evangelist  speaks,  to  our  Blessed  Lord,  "  what 
good  thing  shall  I  do,  that  I  may  have  eternal  life  V^ 
"  If  thou  wilt  enter  into  life,"  was  the  reply,  "  keep 
the  commandments.  He  saith  unto  Him,  Which  ? 
Jesus  said.  Thou  shalt  do  no  murder  ;  thou  shalt  not 
commit  adultery  ;  thou  shalt  not  steal ;  thou  shalt  not 
bear  false  witness ;  honour  thy  father  and  thy  mother ; 
and,  thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbour  as  thyself.  The 
young  man  saith  unto  Him,  All  these  things  have  I 
kept  from  my  youth  up  :  what  lack  I  yet  ?  Then 
Jesus  beholding  him,  loved  him,  and  said  unto  him, 
One  thing  thou  lackest ;  if  thou  wilt  be  perfect,  go 
and  sell  that  thou  hast,  and  give  to  the  poor,  and  thou 
shalt  have  treasure  in  heaven  ;  and  come,  take  up  the 
cross  and  follow  me.     But  when  the  young  man 


CHRISTIAN    PROGRESS.  45 

heard  that  saying,  he  went  away  sorrowful ;  for  he 
had  great  possessions." 

Now,  doubtless,  this  young  Ruler,  so  far  as  he 
knew  his  own  heart,  believed  himself  to  be  quite 
honest  and  sincere  in  his  professions,  and  that  he  was 
ready  to  go  as  far  as  any  one  in  God's  service :  cer- 
tainly he  had  done  his  best,  according  to  his  own 
standard,  to  keep  God's  commandments,  and,  there- 
fore, he  will  rise  up  in  judgment  against  many  who 
now  think  disparagingly  of  him  :  unquestionably  he 
was  in  the  eyes  of  his  contemporaries  an  eminently 
strict  and  pious  man.  He  wished  to  do  right.  Young 
though  he  was  in  years,  he  had  got  the  better  of 
those  feelings  which  so  often  alienate  the  young  from 
God.  He  had  not  forgotten  his  Creator  :  he  was  not 
ashamed  of  religion  :  he  was  not  afraid  of  the  ridicule 
and  raillery  of  companions,  who  might  have  en- 
deavoured to  persuade  him  that"  youth  is  the  season 
for  indulging  instead  of  disciplining  the  appetites ; 
and  for  pampering,  instead  of  mortifying  the  flesh 
with  its  affections  and  its  lusts. 

He  who  knew  what  was  in  man, — the  Lord  and 
Maker  of  all,  saw  these  promising  dispositions,  and 
this  growing  conscientiousness,  and  therefore,  (even 
though  he  was  as  yet  a  great  way  off  from  the  truth) 
we  are  told  that  "  He  loved  him" — loved  him  so  well 
as  to  invite  him  under  certain  conditions  to  become, 
5 


46  CHRISTIAN    PROGRESS. 

as  it  should  seem,  an  apostle.  "  Come,  and  follow 
me.'^ 

However,  he  was  first  to  be  tried.  And,  in  His 
love  and  mercy,  the  Saviour  tried  him  in  the  very- 
point  where  self-knowledge  was  most  needful  to  him, 
by  applying  a  test  which  showed  this  Ruler  what,  as 
yet,  he  little  suspected, — the  deceitfulness  and  the 
weakness  of  his  own  heart. 

The  young  man  had  professed  that  from  his  early 
years  he  had  "  loved  his  neighbour  as  himself."  "Do 
you  really  know  the  force  of  what  you  are  saying?" 
— (such  seems  to  be  the  general  bearing  of  our 
Lord's  remarks.)  "  Have  you  ever  seriously  thought 
how  much  is  involved  in  the  command  that  you 
should  love  your  neighbour  as  yourself.^  Now,  I  will 
put  you  to  the  trial  in  one  point  only :  are  you  ready 
to  sell  all  your  goods,  and  give  up  your  great  pos- 
sessions, in  order  that,  from  the  proceeds,  you  may 
feed  the  hungry,  clothe  the  naked,  and  minister  to 
the  wants  of  your  poorer  neighbours?" 

No.  The  young  man  was  unable  to  make  so  great 
a  sacrifice.  He  loved  his  ease,  his  comforts,  his 
luxuries,  and  where  they  were  not  interfered  with, 
he  could  find  pleasure  in  the  discharge  of  his  duties 
to  God  and  man.  But  these  comforts  were  his  weak 
point ;  and  the  moment  they  were  put  in  jeopardy 
his  good  intentions  faded  away.     He  was  dutiful 


CHRISTIAN    PROGRESS.  47 

only  so  long  as  duty  and  inclination  did  not  clash  ; 
and  herein  he  may  serve  as  a  warning  to  us  all. 
When  called  upon  to  deny  himself  and  follow  Christ, 
he  went  away ;  and  though  it  is  added  that  he  went 
away  "  sorrowful,"  still  he  went.  It  was  a  grievous 
sin,  and  a  throwing  away  of  an  opportunity  which 
many  of  the  Saints  of  God  would  have  given  worlds, 
if  they  possessed  them,  to  have  had  within  their 
reach.  Yet,  if  his  sorrow  was  of  that  godly  kind 
"  that  worketh  repentance  to  salvation,  not  to  be 
repented  of,''  he  must  have  been  brought  at  last  to 
the  reflection,  that  as  his  obedience  was  now  proved 
to  be  imperfect,  and  he  had  come  short  of  the  strict- 
ness of  God's  law  in  respect  to  this  particular  of 
loving  his  neighbour  as  well  as  himself,  so  the  pre- 
sumption was  that  in  every  other  point  of  duty  he 
was  deficient,  and  thus  he  would  be  taught  his  need 
of  a  Saviour,  as  he  had  already  been  taught  where  to 
find  one. 

Now,  brethren,  if,  as  I  have  already  said,  there 
were  any  of  us  who  were  blindly  trusting  in  our- 
selves, and  leaning  on  the  broken  reed  of  our  own 
righteousness,  we  should  soon  stand  self-condemned, 
if  we  were  to  apply  the  incidents  of  the  history  we 
have  been  considering,  to  our  own  case ;  but  feeling 
satisfied  that  you  are  not  indulging  in  any  such  dan- 
gerous  self-deceit,  as  that   of  supposing  that  any 


48  CHRISTIAN    PROGRESS. 

actions  of  yours  are  untainted  by  imperfections ;  or, 
(granting  them  ever  so  perfect)  that  they  are  deserv 
ing  of  reward,  I  shall  make  a  different  use  of  the 
words  of  the  text,  and  apply  them  to  elicit  an  answer 
from  the  consciences  of  every  one  of  us,  wherein  we 
are  most  deficient  of  that  standard  of  holiness,  at 
which  our  blessed  Lord  commanded  his  followers  to 
aim,  when  He  gave  the  injunction,  "Be  ye  perfect, 
even  as  your  Father  which  is  in  heaven  is  perfect." 

I  do  not,  however,  now  address  myself  to  the 
openly  and  deliberately  wicked, — to  those  who  are 
living  in  open  sin  and  wilful  renunciation  of  their 
Baptismal  vows,  and  who,  if  our  Church  had  not  lost 
her  ancient  discipline,  would  be  cut  off  from  compa- 
nionship with  the  faidiful  till  they  had  repented  of 
their  transgressions.  If,  unhappily,  I  am  addressing 
any  who  are  in  the  habitual  neglect  of  prayer,  or  who 
are  little  better  than  heathen  men  in  their  respect  of 
God's  name,  or  day,  or  house,  or  Sacraments, — who 
are  guilty  of  profaneness,  sensuality,  or  any  other 
deadly  sin,  it  is  not  to  them  that  I  am  about  to  put 
my  present  inquiries. 

I  can  only  speak  of  them  with  sorrow  and  dismay, 
as  of  persons  who  have  "  no  inheritance  in  the  king- 
dom of  Christ  and  of  God."  And  if,  like  the  young 
Ruler  in  the  Gospel,  they  should  propose  (what  in 
their  case  would  be)  the  awfully  presumptuous  ques- 


CHRISTIAN    PROGRESS.  49 

tion,  "What  lack  I  yet?"  I  can,  alas,  find  no 
answer  for  them  but  this,  that  they  lack  everything, 
and  that  while  they  suppose  that  they  "  have  need  of 
nothing,"  they  are  "wretched,  and  miserable,  and 
poor,  and  blind,  and  naked."  They  are  very  far 
from  the  kingdom  of  God. 

But,  if  there  be  those  among  us,  (and  such  there 
may  well  be)  who,  like  him  of  whom  we  have  been 
speaking,  "worshipping  Christ,"  and  "  loved  of  Him," 
and  obeying  His  commandments  with  honest  pur- 
pose, however  imperfectly,  from  their  youth  up,  are 
yet  painfully  conscious  of  their  many  deficiencies ;  to 
them  I  will  apply  the  words  of  the  text,  though  in 
such  a  manner,  as  will,  I  trust,  encourage  them  to 
increased  and  cheerful  exertions,  rather  than  dis- 
hearten them  under  a  despairing  and  paralyzing 
sense  of  their  helplessness  and  guilt. 

In  the  question  then,  "  What  lack  I  yet?"  How 
far  am  I  "walking  worthy  of  the  Lord  unto  all 
pleasing  ?"  I  would  have  each  one  of  you  ask  his 
heart  how  far  he  has  been  enabled  to  keep  the  vows 
which  were  made  in  his  behalf  at  Holy  Baptism,  and 
what  has  hitherto  been  his  growth  in  grace :  what 
mastery  he  has  gained  over  his  corrupted  nature,  and 
besetting  sins :  and  what  those  several  points  are,  in 
which  he  feels  himself  to  be  most  defective,  and  has 
most  ground  to  recover,  and  wherein  he  must  use  re- 
5^ 


50  CHRISTIAN    PROGRESS. 

doubled  exertions  to  walk  worthy  of  the  vocation 
wherewith  he  is  called. 

In  order  to  judge  accurately  of  that  standard  of 
perfection  which  God  is  pleased  to  set  forth  as  the 
model  of  our  imitation,  we  must  refer,  not  to  the 
opinions  and  language  of  the  world  around  us,  hut 
to  His  own  Word.  He  has  set  forth  His  Eternal 
Son,  the  Head  of  the  Church, — as  the  example  which 
the  members  of  His  body  are  to  follow.  No  lower 
standard,  no,  not  that  of  the  purest  Saint  or  the 
highest  Angel  will  be  sufficient.  If  we  follow  them 
it  must  only  be  as  they  followed  Christ.  Doubtless, 
it  may  seem  easier  and  pleasanter  to  take  for  our 
pattern  of  imitation  something  which  we  think 
attainable  without  any  very  great  difficulty.  Doubt- 
less, we  often  give  ourselves  credit  for  our  humility, 
when,  devoid  of  envy,  we  say  of  some  one,  whom 
we  suppose  to  be  further  advanced  in  holiness  than 
ourselves,  "  Ah  !  if  ever  I  could  arrive  at  such  a  pitch 
of  excellence,  as  such  or  such  a  person,  I  should  be 
content.'^ 

And  very  probably  we  should :  but  God  has  given 
us  another  standard  of  perfection ;  and  though  he  has 
never  taught  us  to  believe  that  we  shall  reach  it,  He 
has  enjoined  that  our  lives  shall  be  spent  in  trying  to 
do  so.  With  nothing  less  than  this  will  he  be  satis- 
fied :  at  nothing  less  than  this  must  we  aim. 


CHRISTIAN    PROGRESS.  51 

And  this  caution  is  the  more  requisite,  because  we 
hve  in  times  when  party-feehng  in  matters  of  fahhis 
apt  to  create  false  standards  of  religion.  It  was  our 
Lord's  injunction  to  his  followers, "  Call  no  man  your 
father  upon  the  earth :  for  one  is  your  Father,  which  is 
in  heaven  :''  but  this  is  a  command,  which  is,  I  fear, 
practically  forgotten  by  a  great  many  persons.  They 
look  to  what  is  said  or  done,  or  reported  to  be  said  or 
done,  by  the  leaders  of  the  party  they  have  chosen, 
and  beyond  this  they  do  not  look,  and  so  are,  of 
course,  led  to  judge  of  their  own  condition,  and  of 
that  of  their  neighbours,  by  the  same  process  of 
reasoning  which  insured  to  the  Pharisees  a  character 
of  holiness,  because  they  made  long  prayers,  and 
gave  their  alms  in  public. 

It  was  right  to  make  prayers :  it  was  right  to  give 
alms :  but  religion  did  not  consist  in  these  things  only. 
And  so  among  ourselves.  "  It  is  very  common  for 
Christians,"  as  has  been  truly  said,  "  to  make  much 
of  what  are  but  petty  services  :  first,  to  place  the  very 
substance  of  religion  in  a  few  meagre  observances,  or 
particular  moral  precepts  which  are  easily  complied 
with  ;  and  then  to  make  a  great  vaunting  about  their 
having  done  what  in  truth  every  one  who  is  not  a 
mere  child  in  Christ  ought  to  be  able  to  do ;  to  con- 
gratulate themselves  on  their  success,  to  condemn 
others  who  do  not  happen  to  move  exactly  along  the 


52  CHRISTIAN    PROGRESS. 

very  same  line  of  minute  practices  in  detail  which  they 
have  adopted ;  and  in  consequence,  to  forget  that, 
after  all,  by  such  poor  obedience,  right  though  it  be, 
still  they  have  not  approached  even  to  a  distant  view 
of  that  point  in  their  Christian  course,  at  which  they 
may  consider  themselves,  in  St.  Paul's  words,  to  have 
« attained'  a  sure  hope  of  salvation." 

If  then,  such  persons  propose  the  inquiry,  "What 
lack  I  yet?''  an  answer  might  be  given  to  them 
which  would  show  the  real  extent  of  their  defici- 
encies, and  prove  them  to  be  in  a  very  different  state 
from  that  in  which  the  spirit  of  self-deceit  would 
place  them.  That  they  may  have  made  some 
progress  in  the  way  to  heaven  may  be  reasonably 
hoped';  but  that  they  have  not  advanced  as  far  as 
they  might  have  done  is  evident.  An  advanced 
Christian  makes  no  talk  about  himself,  and  least  of 
all,  does  he  draw  any  comparison  between  himself 
and  others,  except  to  his  own  disadvantage. 

I  have  warned  you  against  referring  to  any  other 
standard  than  your  Bible, — to  any  other  example 
than  that  of  Christ,  for  your  model  of  imitation  :  and 
I  would  now  further  impress  upon  you  that  when 
you  make  the  inquiry,  "  What  lack  I  yet  ?"  you  must 
be  guided  to  your  answer,  not  by  the  state  of  your 
religious  feelings,  but  by  a  strict  review,  and  un- 
shrinking self-examination,  whether  or  not  you  can 


CHRISTIAN    PROGRESS.  53 

trace  in  yourselves  a  steady  progress  in  the  true  life 
of  the  Spirit,  a  gradual  maturing  and  ripening  of  the 
full  fruit  of  holiness. 

There  is,  in  fact,  no  criterion  so  little  to  be  trusted, 
no  beacon  more  likely  to  mislead  us,  in  estimating 
our  Christian  progress,  than  arguments  drawn  from 
the  state  of  our  religious  feelings.  Religion  does  not 
consist  in  excitement,  but  in  action  :  and  as  it  by  no 
means  follows  that  acts  will  follow  excitement,  so 
neither  is  it  to  be  supposed  that  excitement  is  a 
necessary  accompaniment  of  action.  Diiferent  men 
are  constituted  differently.  Some  have  acute  feelings, 
some  have  not.  Some  are  more  easily  aflected  than 
others.  No  man  who  is  in  earnest,  but  will  have 
some  natural  fervour — a  fervour  which  must  be  train- 
ed, not  repressed.  It  is  not  the  duty  of  a  Christian 
to  repress  it ;  indeed,  without  it,  he  could  scarcely, 
perhaps  keep  himself  in  the  way  of  duty.  He  will 
have,  as  the  Psalmist  had,  "delight"  in  the  law  of 
righteousness,  warm  indignation  against  the  disobe- 
dient, sorrow  with  tears  for  the  perverseness  of  those 
who  love  not  the  truth :  but  still  this  fervour  will 
vary  in  intensity  in  different  constitutions,  even 
though  it  be  a  fervour  of  affection,  and  not  of  pas- 
sion. And,  therefore,  it  is  conceivable  that  a  man 
may  discharge  his  daily  duties  to  God,  without  his 
being  sensible  to  himself  of  any  very  lively  emotions 


54  CHRISTIAN    PROGRESS. 

within  him ;  his  heart  and  feehngs  may  appear  to 
himself  cold  and  unexcited,  and  yet  this  may  not 
arise  from  unbelief,  but  from  his  natural  tempera 
ment  of  mind.  And  on  the  other  hand,  there  is  a 
state  of  religious  excitement  which  may  seem  to  give 
life  and  vigour  to  the  soul,  and  be  a  token  of  the 
special  favour  of  the  indwelling  Spirit,  but  which  all 
the  while  is  of  no  more  real  value,  than  are  the  pale 
and  chilly  moonbeams  in  ripening  our  harvests,  and 
bringing  our  fruit  to  perfection. 

In  frames  and  feelings  there  is  always  the  risk  of 
some  delusion,  but  there  is  no  mistaking  the  good 
works  which  spring  from  a  lively  faith.  "  Ye  shall 
know  them  by  their  fruits.''^  This  is  the  only  safe 
criterion  by  which  we  can  judge  either  of  others,  or 
of  ourselves.  And  if,  day  by  day,  we  look  into  our 
actions  and  see  that  the  daily  duties,  be  they  little,  or 
be  they  great,  are  watchfully  performed,  as  in  God's, 
the  Judge's  presence,  and  as  becomes  men  for  whom 
Christ  died  ;  if  we  know  by  the  pain  the  struggle  costs 
us,  that  out  of  our  reverence  to  Christ's  commands, 
evil  thoughts,  and  evil  tempers  are  struggled  with, 
and  controlled  so  soon  as  they  arise ;  if  we  are  meek 
and  patient  and  forgiving;  pure  and  self-denying; 
true,  and  honest,  and  diligent  in  our  calling,  because 
we  know  that  Christ  would  have  us  so.  If  we  are 
these  things,  not  by  fits  and  starts,  now  watchful,  and 


CHRISTIAN    PROGRESS.  55 

now  careless;  beginning  the  month  or  the  year  well, 
but  forgetting  our  resolutions  before  its  close, — if  we 
are  steadfast  and  unmoveable,  abounding  in  the  work 
of  the  Lord,  as  knowing  that  our  labour  is  not  vain 
in  the  Lord ;  if  we  persevere  in  spite  of  difficulties, 
making  fresh  and  fresh  advances  to  perfection,  and 
yet  all  the  while  confessing  ourselves  unprofitable 
servants, — if,  I  say,  we  have  this  sort  of  evidence  as 
to  the  character  of  our  lives,  we  have  good  hope  that 
we  cannot  be  deceived  as  to  our  real  position  in  the 
sight  of  God ;  there  is  no  danger  of  our  dreaming  on 
through  years  of  self-deceit  and  self-satisfaction,  to 
awake  at  last — in  hell! 

And  now  let  each  of  us  fairly  put  the  question  to 
himself.  Wherein  am  I  still  deficient,  "  What  lack  I 
yet  ?"  If  we  have  read  our  Bible  aright,  if  we  have 
listened  to  the  teaching  of  the  Church,  we  know  that 
our  whole  life  should  be  a  continual  advance  in  holi- 
ness, and  progress  towards  perfection.  We  are  never 
to  fancy  that  we  have  attained  to  that  degree  of  right- 
eousness which  is  sufficient.  In  this  sense  no  degree 
of  righteousness  is  sufficient,  because  if  there  be 
yet  a  higher  step  which  we  might  gain  but  do  not, 
that  omission  of  our's  is  an  offence  in  God's  sight, 
and  there  is  no  offence  against  Him  but  may  peril 
our  salvation.  We  must  beware,  then,  of  all  which 
may  hinder  or  impede  our  progress.     To  halt,  to 


56  CHRISTIAN    PROGRESS. 

look  back,  to  slumber,  are  but  so  many  tokens  of 
impending  ruin.  To  halt  is  to  run  the  risk  of  the 
waves  overwhelming  us;  to  look  back  before  we 
reach  the  momitain's  top,  is  to  be  consumed,  or 
to  stand  motionless  for  ever;  to  slumber,  is  to  let 
the  bridegroom  go  by  to  the  wedding  feast,  and 
shut  to  the  door.  Let  us,  therefore,  beware  of 
mistaking  words  and  professions  for  Christian  Faith, 
and  of  confounding  good  feelings  with  good  works ; 
and  further,  let  us  beware  of  another  error  no  less 
perilous;  that,  namely,  of  trusting  to  outward  forms, 
and  setting  little  store  by  the  inward  spirit. 

We  are  Christ's  soldiers,  and,  as  fighting  under  His 
banner,  our  duty  is  not  only  not  to  lose  heart,  but  to 
press  forward  and  gain  more  ground  continually. 
There  is  no  safety  for  us  but  in  victory,  no  resting 
place  but  the  grave.  Are  we  living  in  this  belief? 
Are  we  winning  our  way  forward  ?  What  fruits  of 
the  Spirit  have  we  to  show  ?     What  lack  we  yet  ? 

It  is  not  necessary  that  I  should  go  through  the 
various  points  of  Christian  duty  and  ask  you  with 
reference  to  each,  how  far  you  have  attained  unto 
the  diligent  discharge  of  them.  This  can  be  done 
better  by  your  own  consciences  than  by  my  lips.  But 
as  each  one  of  us  knows  that  there  is  a  sad  record 
against  him  of  things  both  done  and  undone,  so  each 
of  us  knows  too  at  this  very  moment  the  particular 


CHRISTIAN    PROGRESS.  57 

points  wherein  we  might  have  attained  to  greater 
holiness  than  we  have  yet  done.  One  of  us,  per- 
haps, knows  that  he  might  have  put  more  effectual 
control  on  a  hasty  temper ;  another  that  he  might 
have  been  less  ready  to  think  evil  of  his  neighbour ; 
a  third,  that  he  might  have  been  more  careful  and 
exact  in  speaking  the  truth ;  one  might  have  been 
less  proud;  another  less  envious;  another  more 
chaste  in  thought  or  word ;  another  more  industrious, 
or  more  regular.  Some  might  have  given  up  more 
leisure  to  prayer,  or  more  money  to  alms-deeds.  Some 
might  have  fasted  and  denied  themselves  more  strictly. 
Some  might  have  prepared  themselves  better  for  the 
Holy  Communion,  Some  might  have  come  more 
frequently  to  Church;  and  some  might  have  been 
more  devout  when  there. 

Examine  yourselves  in  such  points  as  these,  and 
then  you  will  have  little  difficulty  in  ascertaining 
where  further  progress  is  needful. 

But  then,  having  ascertained  this  point,  we  must 
not  sit  down  with  our  hands  before  us,  awed  at  the 
thought  of  the  little  advance  we  have  made  in  our 
heavenward  course,  in  proportion  to  what  might 
have  been  expected  of  us  ;  on  the  contrary,  we  must 
reflect  that  the  need  is  so  much  the  more  for  instant 
and  increased  exertion.  If  ever,  hitherto,  we  have 
persuaded  ourselves  that  it  was  possible  to  stand  still, 
6 


58  CHRISTIAN    PROGRESS. 

yet,  now  at  least,  let  us  awake  to  a  sense  of  the  fact, 
that  every  step  which  is  not  so  much  nearer  heaven, 
is,  in  fact,  a  slipping  backward  towards  the  gates  of 
hell. 

Stand  still  we  cannot :  and  with  the  aids  we  have 
to  help  us  forward,  it  is  an  offence  even  to  desire  to 
do  so.  For  if  God  bids  us  encounter  trials,  it  is  He 
who  is  as  willing  as  He  is  able  to  bring  us  through 
thein.  If  Christ  our  Lord  calls  us  to  take  up  after 
Him  the  cross  which  once  He  bore  for  us.  He  will 
enable  us  to  endure  its  bitterness.  If  He  charges  us 
to  aim  at  perfection,  it  is  that  by  the  grace  of  His 
Holy  Spirit,  He  may  bring  us  on,  by  little  and  httle, 
to  a  height  of  holiness,  which,  if  we  saw  it  all  at  once, 
we  should  suppose  to  be  unattainable,  and  so  abstain 
from  making  the  attempt. 

Lost,  wretched,  miserable,  perishing  sinners  are 
we  in  ourselves,  after  all  that  we  can  aim  at,  or 
achieve.  Idle,  good-for-nothing,  unprofitable  ser- 
vants, even  if  we  had  done  all  that  we  were  com- 
manded to  do.  God  tells  us  this,  and  I  trust  we  are 
satisfied  of  it. 

But  because  God  tells  us  this,  and  because,  in  spite 
of  all  our  weakness,  and  infirmities,  and  sins,  He, 
for  His  dear  Son's  sake,  loves  us,  and  willeth  not  that 
any  should  perish,  let  us  take  special  care  that  His 
love  be  not  bestowed  on  us  in  vain.     Let  us  watch 


CHRISTIAN    PROGRESS.  59 

and  examine  ourselves  continually  :  let  ns  repeat  the 
inquiry  again  and  again,  "  What  lack  I  yet  ?"  What 
more  must  I  do,  in  order  to  be  fruitful  in  every  good 
work,  and  to  increase  in  the  knowledge  of  God? 
And  ever,  as  ascertaining  our  manifold  deficiencies, 
we  set  about  removing  them  with  diligence,  and  seek 
the  aid  of  the  Holy  Spirit  to  help  us  in  our  efforts,  let 
us  cast  out  of  consideration  the  amount  of  progress 
made,  and  rather  studying  what  is  to  be,  than  what 
has  been  arrived  at,  let  our  feelings  and  language  be 
identified  with  those  of  St.  Paul  :  "  Brethren,  I  count 
not  myself  to  have  apprehended  :  but  this  one  thing 
I  do,  forgetting  those  things  which  are  behind,  and 
reaching  forth  unto  those  things  which  are  before,  I 
press  toward  the  mark  for  the  prize  of  the  high  calling 
of  God  in  Christ  Jesus. '^ 


SERiMON  IV. 

THE    SOURCE    OF    MAN'S    SUFFICIENCY. 

2  Corinthians  iii.  5,  part. 
Our  sufficiency  is  of  God. 

In  matters  of  every  day  life  we  reckon  him  unwise 
and  obstinate  who  does  not  care  to  profit  by  the 
direct  experience  of  others.  The  sick  man,  who  de- 
cUnes  to  make  trial  of  some  medicine  of  suspicious 
or  doubtful  efficacy,  may,  indeed,  lose  a  chance  of 
recovery ;  though  yet,  on  the  other  hand,  he  may 
escape  the  danger  of  having  the  bad  symptoms  of  his 
malady  increased.  But  if  his  physician  addresses 
him  and  says,  "  I  know  and  understand  your  com- 
plaint, for  I  have  had  it  myself,  and  have  found 
speedy  and  certain  relief  from  the  medicine  which  I 
offer  you,"  surely  the  patient  who  then  hesitates  must 
be  very  weak-minded  and  very  distrustful,  because 
he  rejects  an  evidence  with  which  he  ought  to  be 
satisfied. 

6* 


62  THE    SOURCE    OF    MAn's    SUFnCIENCY. 

Now,  one  reason  why  we  ought  to  receive  the 
words  of  the  text  with  great  attention,  is  because  they 
teach  US  what,  with  reference  to  the  matter  therein 
>    spoken  of,  was  the  direct  experience  of  St.  Paul. 

You  will,  no  doubt,  remember  that  his  second  letter 
to  the  Christians  of  Corinth  contains  in  its  opening 
chapters  a  strong  assertion  of  the  high  importance  of 
his  own  dignity  as  an  Apostle,  and  a  defence  of  the 
course  pursued  by  him  in  the  execution  of  that 
arduous  office. 

In  the  second  chapter  he  had  expressed  his  thank- 
fulness to  God,  Who,  "  wherever  I  go,"  saith  the 
Apostle,  (if  we  may  thus  venture  to  paraphrase  his 
words)  "  makes  me  to  triumph  in  the  cause  of  Christy 
and  who  spreads  forth  in  every  country  through 
which  I  pass,  the  sweet  fragrance  of  the  knowledge 
of  his  gracious  dispensations.  For  I  am,  in  my  min- 
istry, the  sweet  fragrance  of  Christ  to  God,  both  in 
those  whom  I  may  be  the  means  of  saving,  and  in 
those  who  perish.  To  the  one  we  are  the  savour  of 
death  unto  death  ;  and  to  the  other  the  savour  of  life 
imto  life.  And  who,''  continues  the  Apostle,  "is 
sufficient  for  these  things  ?  Who,  in  so  arduous  a 
ministry,  will  dare  to  presume  on  the  sufficiency  of 
his  own  natural  powers  ?" 

And  then  St.  Paul  goes  on  to  say,  that  while  he 
thus  speaks  of  his  ministry,  he  has  no  thought  of  com- 


THE    SOUKCE    OF    MAn's    SUFFICIENCY.  63 

mending  himself  and  his  past  exertions.  Such  a 
course,  he  reminds  them,  must  needs  be  unnecessary 
at  Corinth,  where  those  to  whom  he  wrote  were  the 
most  satisfactory  testimony  in  his  behalf.  "  l^e," 
saith  he,  "  are  our  epistle,  written  in  our  hearts, 
known  and  read  of  all  men  :  you  are,  as  it  were  a 
letter  written  by  Christ  Himself,  and  intrusted  to  our 
charge, — a  letter  written  not  with  ink,  but  with  the 
Spirit  of  the  living  God  ;  not  in  tables  of  stone,  but  in 
fleshly  tables  of  the  heart.  And  such  trust, — such  a 
lawful  cause  of  boasting,  therefore,  I  have  through 
Christ  toward  God.  Not,  indeed,  that  I  presume  to 
imagine  myself  competent  to  do  anything  praise- 
worthy by  my  own  natural  strength, — not  that  we 
are  sufficient  of  ourselves  to  think  anything  as  of  our- 
selves ;  but  our  sufficiency  is  of  God.'^ 

Here,  then,  we  have  St.  Paul,  first  contemplating 
the  difficulties  and  responsibilities  of  his  trial,  and 
thus  asking,  "  Who  is  sufficient  for  these  things  ?" 
and  then  answering  his  own  question  with  the  reply, 
"  Our  sufficiency  is  of  God."  And  this  language  we 
find  him  using  continually.  If  he  alludes  to  his 
having  laboured  more  abundantly  than  others,  he 
adds,  "yet  not  I,  but  the  grace  of  God  which  was 
with  me."  If  he  speaks  to  the  Philippians  of  his 
active  discharge  of  his  duties,  he  attributes  his  suc- 
cess to  the  true  cause,  "  1  can  do  all  things  through 


64  THE    SOURCE    OF    MAN^S    SUPFICIENCY. 

Christ  which  strengtheneth  me  :"  if  he  exhorts  them 
to  work  out  their  own  salvation  with  fear  and 
trembhng,  he  gives,  as  a  reason  to  encourage  them  in 
their  exertions,  "  for  it  is  God  which  worketh  in  you 
both  to  will  and  to  do  of  His  good  pleasure.'^ 

And  how  it  was  that  the  blessed  Apostle  gained 
his  knowledge  of  this  most  important  doctrine,  we 
learn  from  that  memorable  passage,  where,  after 
speaking  of  the  tliorn  in  the  flesh,  (whatever  that 
might  have  been)  which  was  sent  him,  lest  those 
abundant  revelations  which  he  received  from  heaven 
soon  after  his  conversion,  should  have  exalted  him 
above  measure,  he  declares  that  he  besought  the 
Lord  thrice  that  it  might  depart  from  him,  and 
received  from  the  Lord  this  answer, "  My  grace  is 
sufficient  for  thee ;  for  My  strength  is  made  perfect  in 
weakness." 

And  now,  as  to  the  fad,  that  that  grace  was  indeed 
able  to  support  him  in  all  dangers,  and  carry  him 
through  all  temptations,  it  seems  almost  unnecessary 
to  speak.  Trace  his  life  from  his  conversion  to  his 
martyrdom,  and  you  will  find  it  a  record  of  the 
power  of  God,  making  the  spirit  to  triumph  over  the 
flesh,  and  enabling  it  to  face  and  conquer  trials  and 
troubles  which  else  niust  have  overwhelmed  it.  What 
was  it  but  the  sufficiency  of  God  which  made  St.  Paul 
to  become  in  labours  more  abundant,  in  stripes,  and 


THE    SOURCE    OF    MAN  S    SUFFICIENCY.  65 

prisons,  and  deaths,  more  frequent  than  any  of  his 
companions?  What  but  this  enabled  him  to  endure 
without  shrinking  that  dark  catalogue  of  sufferings  to 
which  his  faithfulness  exposed  him,  tlie  stoning,  and 
the  shipwrecks,  the  journeyings  and  their  accompa- 
nying perils,  from  false  friends  and  open  foes,  from 
civilized  men  and  savages  ?  What  but  this  supported 
him  in  weariness  and  painfuhiess,  in  watchings  often, 
in  hunger  and  thirst,  in  fastings  often,  in  cold  and 
nakedness  ?  Yea,  it  was  this  which  gave  him  strength 
to  take  pleasure  in  infirmities,  in  reproaches,  in 
necessities,  in  persecutions,  in  distresses  for  Christ's 
sake.  It  was  this  which  enabled  him  to  spend  and 
be  spent,  to  fight  a  good  fight,  to  keep  the  faith,  yea, 
and  at  length  to  die  a  Martyr  in  behalf  of  his  cruci- 
fied Lord. 

Here  then,  brethren,  is  a  case  in  which  we  have 
the  testimony  of  direct  experience  to  guide  us.  We 
know  that  St.  Paul  was  even  such  an  one  as  our- 
selves, encompassed  with  the  same  infirmities,  sur- 
rounded by  like  temptations.  We  know  what  he  did 
and  suffered ;  how,  out  of  weakness  he  was  made 
strong,  and  we  know  further,  the  source  of  that 
strength  which  enabled  him  to  overcome  in  his  long 
warfare  with  the  world  and  the  devil.  "  Our  sufli- 
ciency,"  saith  he,  "  is  of  God."  It  remains,  therefore, 
that  we  who  have  the  same  necessities,  should  learn 


66  THE    SOURCE    OF    MAn's    SUFFICIENCY. 

from  his  example  to  seek  a  strength  which  is  not  our 
own. 

Accordingly,  while  our  Church  teaches  us  that  we 
have  ^Mio  power  to  do  good  works,  pleasant  and 
acceptable  to  God,  without  the  grace  of  God  by  Christ 
preventing  us,  that  we  may  have  a  good  will,  and 
working  with  us, when  we  have  a  goodwill;"  while 
she  bids  us  acknowledge  that  we  have  "no  power  of 
ourselves  to  help  ourselves/' — "that  through  the 
weakness  of  our  mortal  nature  we  can  do  no  good 
thing  without  God," — that  "without"  Him  "  we  are 
not  able  to  please  "  Him, — and  that  from  Him  "  all 
holy  desires,  all  good  counsels,  and  all  just  works  do 
proceed,"  she  leads  us  in  all  her  services  to  pray  for 
the  help  of  that  grace  which  can  alone  give  us  such 
readiness  of  body  and  soul,  as  to  enable  us  to  accom- 
plish what  God  would  have  us  to  do. 

It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  remind  you  that  the  con- 
dition of  man  since  the  fall  of  Adam  has  been  such 
that  he  cannot  turn  and  prepare  himself,  by  his  own 
natural  strength  and  good  works,  to  faith  and  calling 
upon  God.  By  nature  we  are  born  in  sin  and  the 
children  of  wrath.  But  God  in  his  great  love,  where- 
with He  loveth  us,  brings  us  into  covenant  with 
Himself  by  Holy  Baptism,  and  places  us  in  a  state  of 
salvation, — in  the  way,  that  is,  to  be  saved.  In  that 
blessed  Sacrament,  we  die  to  sin  and  rise  again  unto 


THE    SOURCE    OP    MAn's    SUFFICIENCY.  67 

righteousness ;  are  n:iade  regenerate  ;  born,  as  it  were, 
again  ;  and  so  become  new  creatures  with  reference 
to  what  we  were  before.  God  adopts  us  for  His 
children  ;  admits  us  into  His  Church  ;  thereby  making 
us  very  members  incorporate  in  the  mystical  body  of 
His  Son;  jgr,  and  makes  us,  as  the  Catechism 
expresses  it,  "  children  of  grace.''  We  become  heirs 
and  partakers,  that  is,  of  the  grace,  help,  and  assist- 
ance of  the  Holy  Spirit.  He  is  shed  abroad  in  our 
hearts,  first,  in  such  measure  as  is  requisite  for  our 
infant  necessities,  and  then  in  such  additional  degrees 
as  our  years  and  capacities  render  needful.  Our 
bodies,  washed  in  the  laver  of  regeneration.  He  makes 
His  temples,  and,  (supposing  us  to  adhere  to  our  part 
of  the  Baptismal  covenant,]  that  Divine  Presence  will 
grow  with  our  growth,  and  strengthen  with  our 
strength,  till  we  come  unto  the  perfect  man,  unto  the 
measure  of  the  stature  of  the  fulness  of  Christ. 

This,  I  say,  is  the  merciful  intention  of  the  ever- 
blessed  Comforter  towards  us :  this,  if  we  did  not 
grieve  Him,  and  frustrate  His  operations,  would  be 
the  work  which  he  would  carry  out  in  the  soul  of 
every  member  of  the  Holy  Catholic  Church.  And  if 
He  does  not  this,  the  fault  lies  only  in  ourselves,  for 
He  is  ready  to  help  us  to  the  uttermost;  He,  if  v/e 
only  sought  it  duly,   would   give    us   strength    to 


68  THE    SOURCE    OF    MAn's    SUFFICIENCY. 

preserve  our  baptismal  garment  pure  and  white, 
unstained  by  sin,  and  mispotted  by  the  world. 

But,  though,  at  Holy  Baptism,  we  were  placed  in 
a  state  of  salvation,  and  were  set  upon  the  road  to 
heaven,  it  was  left  to  ourselves  to  choose  whether  or 
no  we  would  avail  ourselves  of  the  privilege,  and 
whether  we  would  adhere  to  the  narrow  path  of  life, 
or  betake  ourselves  to  the  wide  gate  and  broad  way 
that  leadeth  to  destruction.  Herein  our  trial  is  made 
to  consist.  Though  no  longer  exposed  to  God's  wrath 
and  damnation,  on  account  of  the  sin  of  our  first 
parent  Adam,  our  forefather's  nature  yet  abides  in 
us.  The  lust  of  the  flesh,  the  infection  of  our  nature, 
still  remains  even  in  the  regenerate  ;  Baptism  makes 
no  difterence  in  this  respect.  It  does  not  eradicate 
our  malady,  though  it  points  out  the  means  of  cure, 
and  enables  our  constitution  to  bear  the  necessary 
remedies.  We  have,  therefore,  each  of  us,  a  traitor 
still  within, — our  hearts,  and  the  corruption  that  is 
natural  to  them ;  while  without  there  is  the  world  ; 
and  both  from  within,  and  from  without,  the  devil 
has  power  to  tempt  us  to  our  ruin. 

This  then  is  our  condition.  We  have  vowed  to 
renounce  the  devil,  the  world,  and  the  flesh  ;  and  yet 
we  are  so  constituted  that  they  are  the  things  which 
we  are  most  inclined  to  follow.     We  are  expected  to 


THE    SOURCE    OP    MAN's    SUFFICIENCY.  GO 

walk  by  faith,  our  nature  leading  us  to  walk  in  the 
sight  of  our  eyes.  We  are  required,  from  first  to  last, 
to  keep  up  a  constant  warfare  with  self,  while  our 
appetites  and  feelings  incite  us  evermore  to  indulge 
ourselves. 

Such  being  the  case,  there  are  few,  it  is  to  be 
feared,  who  escape  that  pollution  from  which  regen- 
erating Baptism  has  once  set  them  free.  Negligences 
and  ignorances  are  the  lot  of  all,  and  most,  perhaps, 
have  fallen  into  a  course  of  wilful  sin. 

Now  what  hope  is  there  for  such  persons  ? — Of 
course,  as  far  as  this  world  is  concerned,  they  can 
never  be  again  as  when  they  left  the  font :  but,  blessed 
be  God,  we  have  no  reason  to  fear  but  that  the  blood 
o  f  Christ  can  cleanse  from  all  sin,  as  well  actual  as 
imputed,  as  well  after  Baptism,  as  before  it.  They, 
indeed,  who  have  sinned  against  light  and  warnings, 
must  not  expect  that  God  will  accept  them  without 
ten  tinies  greater  repentance  and  contrition  than  they 
exhibited  before  they  had  such  privileges ;  but  still, 
no  earnest  penitent  is  cut  off  from  hope.  His  very 
penitence  is  a  proof  that  God  has  not  rejected  him, 
for  none  can  repent  truly  without  the  aid  of  God's 
Holy  Spirit,  and  he  who  repents  truly,  (so  repents, 
that  is,  as  to  amend  his  life,)  has  the  witness  within 
himself,  that  the  Spirit,  Which  was  given  him  in  Bap- 
7 


70  THE    SOURCE    OF    MAn's    SUFFICIENCY. 

tism,  has  not  wholly  withdrawn  from  him,  but  rather 
is  renewing  him  day  by  day. 

It  is  a  grievous  thing  to  fall  into  sin,  but  we  ma}^, 
in  some  measure,  draw  the  poison  from  the  wound 
we  have  inflicted  on  ourselves,  by  learning  from  our 
fall  the  extent  of  our  weakness.  It  may  be,  that  we 
trusted  in  ourselves,  and  so  have  transgressed.  If  so, 
the  evidence  is  now  before  us,  that  our  sufficiency  is 
not  in  ourselves,  but  of  God.  When  we  think  we 
stand,  we  are  sure  to  fall.  When  we  stay  ourselves 
upon  our  God,  \ve  are  enabled  to  stand  upright. 
The  limbs  live  through  their  union  with  the  body  ; 
the  fruit  comes  to  perfection  because  it  receives 
nourishment  from  the  roots.  ^^  I  am  the  vine," 
said  our  blessed  Lord  to  his  disciples,  "'  Ye  are  the 
branches ;  he  that  abideth  in  Me,  and  I  in  him,  the 
same  bringeth  forth  much  fruit ;  for  without  Me  ye 
can  do  nothing." 

Nothing  can  be  done  effectually,  nothing  can  be 
done  as  it  ought  to  be  done,  without  the  co-operating 
grace  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  Without  that,  resolve  as 
we  may,  strive  as  we  may,  all  will  end  in  disappoint- 
ment. We  shall  sink  under  temptation,  or  grow 
proud  of  our  seeming  success,  or  be  self-deceived,  or 
inconsistent.  Some  how  or  other,  how  great  soever 
may  be  our  early  promise,  we  shall  bring  no  fruit  to 
perfection  ;  the  frost  will  destroy  it,  or  the   worm 


'  THE    SOURCE    OF    MAN*S    SUFFICIENCY.  71 

devour  it  ;  it  will  wither,  or  be  cankered,  or  drop  from 
the  bough  ere  it  be  half  ripened.  <' Without  INIe  ye 
can  do  nothing  !" 

What  then  ?  Since  the  grace  of  God  is  all  suf- 
ficient ;  and  since  that  grace  alone  enables  us  either 
to  have  good  desires,  or  to  bring  them  to  good  effect, 
are  we  to  take  no  further  trouble,  and  suppose  that 
Ave  have  nothing  to  do  but  to  surrender  ourselves  to 
a  state  of  spiritual  inactivity,  expecting  that  all  will 
be  done  for  us,  and  that  we  are  to  do  nothing  for 
ourselves, — and  that  without  any  exertion  on  our 
parts  we  shall  be  formed  and  fasliioned  after  the 
model  of  Christian  perfection,  transformed  by  the 
renewing  of  our  minds,  and  so  made  ripe  for  glory  ? 

That  be  far  from  us  !  It  fares  with  us  as  with  the 
Apostle  of  old  ;  Satan  desires  to  have  us,  that  he  may 
sift  us  as  wheat,  and  unless  we  resist  him  with  all  the 
energies  of  mind  and  body,  of  heart  and  soul,  he  will 
work  his  will  upon  us.  Therefore,  we  must  work 
out  our  own  salvation  with  fear  and  trembling, /or  it 
is  God  that  worketh  in  us  both  to  will  and  to  do  of 
His  good  pleasure.  We  have  to  engage  in  an 
arduous  contest ;  and  we  must  not  shrink  from  it,  for 
we  have  this  encouraging  assurance,  "  My  strength 
is  sufficient  for  thee."  We  have  to  engage  in  an 
arduous  contest,  but  Ave  must  enter  on  it  in  no  rash. 


72  THE    SOURCE    OF    MAn's    SUFFICIENCY. 

spirit  of  confidence  and  presumption,  for  the  same 
voice  declares  "  Without  Me  ye  can  do  nothing." 
We  have  commenced  our  warfare,  and  we  find  our 
arm  strengthened,  and  our  heart  waxing  bolder  ;  take 
we  heed,  then,  to  make  the  acknowledgment,  "  Our 
sufficiency  is  of  God."  When  all  is  done  we  shall 
be  still  unprofitable  servants,  and  only  have  per- 
formed that  which  it  was  our  duty  to  do.  But  we  can 
never  make  any  progress,  even  in  this  unprofitable 
service,  without  the  grace  of  God,  and  that  grace 
will  only  be  vouchsafed  in  proportion  as  we  covet 
it  earnestly,  seek  it  heartily,  and  profit  by  it  dili- 
gently. 

Our  sufficiency  is  of  God  ;  but  our  diligence  must 
be  our  own.  We  must  "  eschew  evil  and  do  good, 
seek  peace  and  ensue  it,  for  the  eyes  of  the  Lord  are 
over  the  righteous,  and  His  ears  are  open  unto  their 
prayers."  He  ivill  help  them  ivho  strive  to  help 
themselves,  and  none  other  ;  for  diligence  is  the  test 
of  sincerity.  And  in  proportion  as  we  realize  to  our- 
selves the  thought  that  our  bodies  are  the  templfes  of 
the  Holy  Ghost,  and  in  proportion  as  we  learn  our 
own  weakness,  and  desire  His  strength  and  assist- 
ance, shall  we  exert  ourselves  more  and  more  to  co- 
operate with  Him,  even  as  He,  in  His  mercy,  is 
pleased  to  co-operate  with  us.     In  order  that  the  flesh 


THE    SOURCE    OF    MAn's    SUFFICIENCY.  73 

may  gain  no  mastery  over  us,  we  shall  keep  it  in 
subjection  by  fasts,  and  mortification,  and  by  disci- 
plining it  to  endure  hardness.  In  order  that  our 
hearts  may  not  betray  us,  we  shall  exercise  them  in 
all  that  may  render  them  humble  and  obedient.  Our 
appetites  we  shall  hold  in  check,  by  denying  and 
thwarting  them,  even  in  things  innocent.  Our  eyes 
and  our  tongues  we  shall  strictly  controul ;  and  so  far 
as  in  us  lies,  we  shall  endeavour  to  make  our  mortal 
bodies  not  unmeet  for  the  presence  of  the  Spirit  of 
Purity  and  Truth. 

And  while  we  thus  regulate  ourselves,  as  far  as 
external  objects  are  concerned,  we  shall  not  be  less 
diligent  in  availing  ourselves  of  those  means  of  grace 
which  are  placed  within  our  reach.  Prayer  and 
meditation  on  the  Word  of  God ;  a  willing  and  devout 
attention  to  the  ordinances  of  the  Church ;  and  above 
all,  regular  participation  in  the  Blessed  Sacrament  of 
the  Body  and  Blood  of  Christ,  will  so  stablish  and 
confirm  our  hearts  as  to  prepare  them,  like  good 
ground,  for  the  reception  of  heavenly  seed. 

May  we,  brethren,  learn  daily  to  value  more  and 
more  the  inestimable  privileges  to  which  our  Bap- 
tism gave  us  the  title ;  may  we  dread  more  and  more 
to  forfeit  them.  May  God,  for  his  dear  Son's  sake, 
increase  in  us  continually  His  manifold  gifts  of  grace, 
7* 


74  THE    SOURCE    OF    MAN's    SUFFICIENCY. 

the  spirit  of  wisdom  and  understanding ;  the  spirit  of 
counsel  and  ghostly  strength  ;  the  spirit  of  knowledge 
and  true  godliness.  May  he  fill  us  with  the  spirit  of 
His  Holy  fear,  both  now  and  forever.     Amen. 


SERMON  V. 

THE  BLESSEDNESS  OF  NOT  BEING  OFFENDED  IN  CHRIST. 

Matthew  xi.  6. 
And  blessed  is  he,  whosoever  shall  not  be  offended  in  Me. 

The  circumstances  under  which  these  words  were 
spoken  were  as  follows.  St.  John  the  Baptist,  having 
heard  in  his  prison  the  works  of  Christ,  sent  two  of 
his  disciples  (through  whom,  as  it  seems,  the  report  of 
the  Saviour's  miracles  had  reached  him*)  with  this 
message  to  our  blessed  Lord,  "  Art  Thou  He  that 
should  come  ?" — the  Shiloh,  that  is,  of  the  Fathers, 
— the  Messiah  of  the  Prophets, — "  or  do  we  look  for 
another?" 

It  has  not  been  revealed  to  us  why  the  Baptist 
deputed  his  followers  to  make  such  an  inquiry,  and 

*  Luke  vii.  18. 


76  THE    BLESSEDNESS    OF    NOT 

hence  there  has  arisen  considerable  discussion  on  the 
subject,  in  which  some  have  gone  so  far  as  to  suppose 
that  St.  John's  own  faith  had,  in  some  measure,  failed 
him,  either  because  his  expectations  of  the  temporal 
glory  of  the  Messiah's  kingdom  had  not  been  realized, 
or  because  he  found  himself  left  without  succour 
under  circumstances  in  which  he  had  expected  a 
miraculous  deliverance. 

The  probability,  however,  seems  to  be,  that  the 
message  was  not  sent  by  the  blessed  Baptist  for  the 
satisfaction  of  any  doubts  of  his  own,  but  for  the  con- 
viction of  his  disciples.  That  St.  John  himself  could 
have  doubted  that  Christ  was  the  Messiah,  seems 
incredible,  when  we  remember  the  several  occasions 
on  which  he  had  acknowledged  Him.  to  be  such  in  the 
fullest  and  clearest  manner.*  But  with  respect  to 
his  followers,  the  case  was  different ;  and  as  they 
had  already  given  proof  that  they  were  not  altogether 
without  some  jealousy  of  our  Lord  and  His  disciples,t 
and  would,  therefore,  be  less  willing  to  receive  the 
truth  when  their  master  should  be  removed  from 
them,  he  sent  them,  while  he  was  yet  alive,  to  that 
Messiah  in  Whom  he  desired  them  to  believe,  even 
as  he  did  himself. 

Accordingly  they  came,  with  the  inquiry  on  their 

*  Compare  John  i.  6,  7,  8,  33,  34,  36  ;  iii.  26,  29—36 ;  v.  33. 
f  Matt.  ix.  U. 


BEING    OFFENDED    IN    CHRIST.  77 

lips,  "Art  Thou  He  (hat  should  come,  or  do  wc  look 
for  another?" — ''And  in  the  same  hour,"  writes  St. 
Luke  in  his  account  of  this  event,  Jesus  "  cured 
many  of  their  infirmities  and  plagues,  and  of  evil 
spirits;  and  unto  many  that  were  blind  He  gave 
sight."  Now,  you  will  remember,  brethren,  that 
it  had  long  since  been  pointed  out  by  Isaiah,  as  a 
distinguishing  note  or  mark  of  the  Messiah's  king- 
dom, that  "  then  the  eyes  of  the  blind  shall  be  opened, 
and  the  ears  of  the  deaf  unstopped.  Then  shall  the 
lame  man  leap  as  an  hart,  and  the  tongue  of  the 
dumb  sing."*  "Jesus,"  therefore,  "answered,  and 
said  unto  them.  Go  and  show  John  again  those  things 
which  ye  do  hear  and  see ;  the  blind  receive  their 
sight,  and  the  lame  walk,  the  lepers  are  cleansed, 
and  the  deaf  hear,  the  dead  are  raised  up,  and  the 
poor  have  the  Gospel  preached  unto  them.  And 
blessed  is  he,  whosoever  shall  not  be  offended  in 
Me." 

He  does  not  tell  them  in  so  many  words  that  He 
is  the  Christ, — for  (as  one  of  the-  Fathers  of  the 
Church  observest  with  reference  to  this  incident,) 
"  the  testimony  of  deeds  is  stronger  than  the  testi- 
mony of  words,"  but  He  gives  them  such  an  evi- 
dence as  might  satisfy  their  doubts,  adding,  at  the 

*  Isaiah  xxxv.  5,  6. 

\  St.  Chrysostom  (r|noted  in  the  Catena  Aiirea.) 


78  THE    BLESSEDNESS    OF    NOT 

same  time,  by  way  of  silent  reproof  and  appeal  to 
their  consciences,  the  words  1  have  chosen  for  my 
text ;  "  Blessed  is  he,  whosoever  shall  not  be  offend- 
ed in  Me." — INIy  low  estate,  that  is,  or  My  disclaim- 
ing all  intention  of  having  My  kingdom  in  this  world, 
or  My  failing  to  exert  miraculous  power  in  behalf 
of  your  imprisoned  master,  have  been  obstacles  in 
the  way  of  your  belief :  I  do  not  say  that  these  things 
are  no  trial,  but  I  pronounce  a  blessing  on  him  whose 
faith  surmounts  it.  Blessed  is  he,  whosoever  shall 
not  be  ashamed  of  JNIy  doctrine,  nor  discouraged  by 
any  temporal  evils  from  obeying  it. 

The  religion  of  the  Gospel  was  never  brought 
before  our  race  as  a  thing  which  would  have  attrac- 
tions to  the  natural  man.  On  the  contrary,  it  pro- 
claimed, at  the  outset,  to  all  who  adopted  it,  that  it 
required  them  to  undertake  a  war  of  extermination 
with  their  natural  appetites,  or  in  other  words,  with 
their  indwelling  corruption.  And,  such  being  the 
case,  it  was  manifest  that  even  where  the  preaching 
of  the  doctrine  of  the  cross  was  not  met  with  deter- 
mined hostility  and  opposition,  it  would  be  received 
with  coldness,  mistrust,  prejudice  and  dislike.  The 
evil-disposed  and  worldly-minded  would  hate  it  with 
a  perfect  hatred,  and  so  far  as  they  could,  become 
persecutors  of  those  who  favoured  it.  Those  who 
trusted  in  their  own  iighteousness,and  were  satisfied 


BEING    OFFENDED    IN    CHRIST.  79 

with  tliemselves,  would  find  a  cause  of  offence  in  it ; 
and  as  these  persons  must  always  form  a  large  class, 
it  is  no  wonder  that  our  blessed  Lord's  preaching 
found  no  favour  with  a  great  body  of  His  country- 
men. But  all  this  had  been  predicted  long  before. 
Isaiah  had  forewarned  his  countrymen  that  the  Lord 
of  Hosts  Himself,  while  offering  to  be  "  a  sanctuary/' 
should  become  "a  stone  of  stumbling  and  rock  of 
offence  to  both  the  houses  of  Israel, — a  gin  and  a 
snare  to  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem." 

And  when  our  Lord  began  to  preach,  He  an- 
nounced to  those  who  heard  Him,  that  He  should 
himself  be  a  scandal  and  offence  to  the  world,  that 
His  doctrine  should  be  a  stumbling-block,  and  that " 
His  followers  should  be  hated  of  all  men  for  His 
name's  sake. 

Nor  did  the  event  fail  to  justify  the  prediction. 
One  while,  His  countrymen  were  '^  offended  in  Him," 
because  He  was  ^'  the  carpenter's  son,"  and  so  they 
rejected  His  doctrine  out  of  prejudice  to  His  person. 
Another  while,  His  very  disciples  not  only  were 
"offended  because  of  Him,"  but  "forsook  Him  and 
fled"  from  Him  in  His  hour  of  trial, because  He  did 
not  manifest  His  divine  power  for  the  destruction  of 
His  enemies. 

And  so  with  regard  to  His  teaching.  He  bids 
the  young  Ruler,  who  professed  a  desire  to  inherit 


80  THE    BLESSEDNESS    OF    NOT 

eternal  life,  go  and  sell  his  goods  and  give  to  the 
poor ;  and  the  result  is,  that  the  rich  man  is  offended  ; 
"  when  he  heard  that  saying,  he  went  away  sorrow- 
ful, for  he  had  great  possessions."  So  again,  on 
another  occasion,  when  He  had  answered  the  in- 
quiry of  the  Pharisees,  with  respect  to  the  payment 
of  the  tribute,  in  a  manner  that  ought  to  have  filled 
them  with  both  remorse  and  conviction,  all  that  is 
recorded  of  them  is,  that  instead  of  acknowledging 
Him  for  their  Lord  and  their  God,  "they,  marvelled 
and  left  Him,  and  went  their  way."  And  so  once 
more,  when  He  had  declared  in  the  synagogue  of 
Capernaum,  "  Except  ye  eat  the  flesh  of  the  Son  of 
Man,  and  drink  his  blood,  ye  have  no  life  in  you," 
—we  are  told  that  those  who  heard  Him  murmured 
at  the  hardness  of  the  saying,  that,  in  short,  it  was 
an  offence  to  them  ;  and  it  is  added,  "  From  that 
time  many  of  His  disciples  went  back,  and  walked 
no  more  with  Him." 

Nor  was  it  otherwise  when  the  Bridegroom  was 
taken  from  them.  We  have  only  to  read  the  Acts  of 
Apostles  to  see  how  continually  the  evil  tempers  and 
prejudices  of  men  made  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel 
an  offence  to  them.  And  the  Epistles  are  full  of 
evidence  to  the  same  point.  St.  Paul  testifies  to  the 
Corinthians  that  the  doctrine  of  Christ  crucified  is 
imto  the  Jews  a  stumbling-block,  and  to  the  Greeks, 


BEING    OFFENDED    IN    CHRIST.  81 

foolishness: — a  hindrance  that  island  an  obstacle, 
and  a  discouragement,  and  an  occasion  of  falling. 
And  the  same  Apostle  speaks  to  the  Galatians  of 
"  the  offence  of  the  Cross  '^  as  though  the  expres- 
sion were  quite  familiar  to  them:  while  St.  Peter, 
addressing  himself  to  the  faithful,  declares  that  unto 
them  that  believe,  Christ  "  is  precious,  but  unto  them 
which  be  disobedient''  He  is  "a  stone  of  stumbhng, 
and  a  rock  of  offence,  even  unto  them  which  stumble 
at  the  Word." 

Enough  has  now  been  said  to  show  you  that  the 
religion  of  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord  was,  even  from  the 
first,  an  offence  to  those  to  whom  it  was  offered.  So 
it  has  been  throughout  all  ages.  His  doctrines.  His 
Ordinances,  His  Church,  His  Ministers  have  been  so 
many  stumbling-blocks  to  the  world ;  and  so,  no 
doubt,  they  will  continue  to  the  end.  It  is  the 
world's  way,  and  the  Church's  trial.  And,  there- 
fore, brethren,  it  behoves  us,  each  for  himself,  to 
reflect  how  far  we  have  hopes  of  being  inheritors 
of  that  blessedness  which  He,  who  is  the  Church's 
Head  and  Lord,  has  pronounced  on  those  who  are 
not  oftended  in  Him.  In  the  remainder  of  this 
discourse  it  will  be  my  object  to  offer  some  sugges- 
tions to  your  notice,  which  may  aid  you  in  your 
inquiry. 

And   first  I  must  observe,  that  our  condition   is 


82  THE    BLESSEDNESS    OF    NOT 

very  different  from  that  of  tliose  to  whom  the  Gospel 
was 'first  preached,  and,  therefore,  if  we  are  offended 
at  it,  there  is  far  less  excuse  for  us  than  there  was 
for  them.  We  profess  and  call  ourselves  Christians ; 
we  continually  declare  our  belief  in  One  Holy  Cath- 
olic and  Apostolic  Church.  They,  on  the  other 
hand,  had  been  brought  up  as  Jews  or  Heathens, 
and  for  them  to  embrace  Christianity  involved  a 
change  in  tlie  opinions,  feelings,  and  habits  of  a  life- 
time. If,  to  such  persons,  the  doctrines  of  the  Cross 
were  a  stumbling-block,  it  was  surely  no  great 
marvel,  human  nature  being  what  it  is. 

But  with  ourselves,  as  I  have  already  said,  the 
case  is  widely  different.  The  Church  can  never  ap- 
pear to  lis  as  a  new  sect  struggling  for  existence, 
and  every  where  spoken  against;  she  comes  before 
us  supported  by  vouchers  of  unquestionable  author- 
ity, and  hallowed  with  the  reverence  of  ages,  the 
birth-place  and  the  home  of  all  that  has  been  great 
and  noble  and  of  good  report  in  the  eyes  of  man,  of 
all  that  is  precious  in  the  sight  of  God.  Into  this 
Church  we  were  admitted  when  infants,  and  so  put 
in  possession  of  privileges  which  can  be  found  no 
where  else :  to  this  Church  we  declared  our  allegi- 
ance in  the  face  of  God  and  the  congregation,  when 
we  were  confirmed  by  the  Bishop;  and  with  this 
Church   we    solemnly    proclaim  our    communion, 


BEING    OFFENDED    IN    CHRIST.  S3 

whenever,  in  the  house  of  God,  we  join  in  that 
Book  of  Common  Prayer,  wliich  it  is  our  happy- 
privilege,  as  members  of  the  English  branch  of 
Christ's  Catholic  Church  to  possess, — tliat  Book  of 
Common  Prayer  to  which  we  confidently  appeal  as 
expressing  the  sense  of  the  Universal  Church, — the 
Truth,  as  it  has  been  held  by  the  consent  of  all 
times,  places,  and  persons. 

Shame,  therefore,  and  grief  it  were  for  us  to  be 
offended  in  her.  Undutiful,  yea,  unnatural  were  it 
for  the  child  to  lift  up  his  hand  or  his  voice  against 
his  mother.  The  Church  to  which  we  belong  is 
Christ's  representative,  and  vicegerent  on  earth  to 
us.  We  know  that  in  her  the  pure  Word  of  God  is 
preached,  and  the  Sacraments  are  rightly  adminis- 
tered, by  a  clergy  holding  their  succession  from 
the  Apostles,  and,  therefore  we  do  not  doubt  that 
the  Church  of  England  is  the  Church  of  Christ  in 
England, — the  English  branch  of  the  One  Holy 
Catholic  Church,  apart  from  which  there  can  be 
no  safety. 

How,  then,  can  any  who  call  themselves  her  chil- 
dren find  cause  or  offence  in  her?  Are  they  wiser 
than  she  ?  or  purer?  or  better?  Is  their  judgment 
infallible  that  they  set  it  against  her's?  Is  their  life 
so  heavenly  that  her  ordinances  are  of  no  use  to 
them  ? 


84  THE    BLESSEDNESS    OF    NOT 

Perlraps  some  one  will  answer  that  it  is  by  no 
means  the  same  thing  to  be  offended  in  Christ,  and 
to  find  matters  of  offence  in  His  Church.  But  to 
this  I  reply,  if  the  Church  teaches  as  Christ  teaches, 
then  it  is  Christ's  teaching  :  but  if  she  does  not  teach 
as  Christ  teaches,  then  there  can  be  no  safety  in  her 
communion.  But  there  are  those  who  allow  them- 
selves to  stay  in  her  communion,  and  who  yet  hft  up 
their  heel  against  her;  who  outwardly  are  in  her 
ranks,  but  assuredly  are  not  of  her,  because  they  are 
offended  in  her. 

Such,  on  the  one  hand,  are  those  who  would 
lower  her  Sacraments  into  mere  outward  signs,  de- 
njdng  their  inward  grace  ; — who  dislike  and  would 
alter  her  Liturgy ; — who  speak  with  contempt  of 
her  holy  ordinances  of  fast  and  festival ; — who  revolt 
at  her  ceremonies,  and  will  not  tolera^  the  thought 
of  reviving  her  ancient  discipline.  And  such,  on  the 
other  hand,  are  those,  who,  because  she  has  lost 
some  privileges  and  some  blessings  which  she  had 
while  yet  in  communion  with  Rome,  would  despise 
her  in  what  they  call  her  low  estate,  would  cast  in 
her  teeth  her  loss  of  discipline  and  fellowship  with 
other  branches  of  the  Catholic  Church,  and  who,  in 
a  Romanizing  spirit,  seek  rather  to  forget  the  errors 
and  superstitions  from  which  she  was  reformed,  than 
to  remember  the  inestimable  blessings  which  have 


BEING    OFFENDED    IN    CHRIST.  85 

(by  God's  great  mercy,  and  in  spite  of  our  demerits) 
been  secured  to  her. 

Now  that  both  these  classes  of  persons  are  in  the 
way,  at  least,  to  extreme  peril,  I  must  needs  express 
my  belief  Depend  upon  it  a  man  is  guilty  of  no 
slight  sin  who  allows  his  mind  to  become  unsettled 
in  its  allegiance  to  the  Church.  He  has  made  the 
first  step  towards  apostacy,  though  as  yet  he  knows 
it  not,  and  probably,  has  no  suspicion  of  danger  so 
long  as  he  abstains  from  an  overt  act.  But  as  has 
been  most  truly  said,  "  One  does  not  begin  to  fall, 
when  the  fall  becomes  sensible."* 

Others  may  take  what  course  seems  right  in  their 
own  eyes,  but  a  Churchman  has  no  right  to  be  of- 
fended in  his  Church.  If  the  matter  of  offence  relates 
to  an  article  of  faith,  in  which  belief  may  affect  sal- 
vation, he  must  reflect  that  he  is  offended  not  with 
the  Church  merely,  but  with  Christ,  for  the  Church 
holds  nothing  to  be  an  article  of  faith  but  what  "  may 
be  read  in  or  proved  by  Holy  Scripture," — the  in- 
spired word  of  God. — If,  on  the  other  hand,  it  be  a 
form,  or  ceremony,  or  matter  of  discipline,  then,  since 
the  Church  has  the  power  of  determining  such  mat- 
ters,t  for  a  man  to  be  offended  here,  is  to  go  alto- 
gether out  of  his  own  province.  He  is  not  to  direct, 
but  to  obey.     The  child  has  not  authority  over  the 

*  Bp.  Wilson.  '      Articles  xx.;  xxxiv. 

8* 


86  THE    BLESSEDNESS    OF    NOT 

parent,  but  the  parent  over  the  child.  When  the 
parent  has  laid  down  the  law,  the  affair  is  settled ; 
the  child  has  no  business  to  question,  criticise,  or 
dispute.  The  thing  required,  not  being  in  itself 
unlawful,  the  duty  of  the  child  is,  as  I  have  said,  to 
obey  with  a  willing  mind.  And  so  it  should  be  with 
us.  Difficulties  in  our  religion  (independent  of 
difficulties  in  the  evidences)  must  be  received  as  a 
matter  of  faith.  The  religion  itself  being  proved  to 
come  from  God,  we  must  take  what  we  find  in  it, 
without  further  questioning.  And  so,  likewise,  with 
reference  to  the  Church  ;  whatever  difficulties  we 
may  find  in  her  constitution  or  her  ordinances,  so 
long  as  what  is  prescribed  is  not  contrary  to  the 
Word  of  God,  we  are  bound  to  obey  with  cheerfulness, 
and  a  glad  surrender  of  our  own  judgments. 

And  I  will  content  myself  with  giving  you  a  single 
reason  why  such  a  course  will,  in  the  end,  prove  the 
best.  //  will  he  the  most  conducive  to  your  soul's 
health.  Look  out  upon  the  world  around  you,  and 
see  the  case  of  those  who  find  stones  of  stumbling, 
and  rocks  of  offence  (whether  on  this  side  or  that)  in 
the  Church  of  which  they  are  members.  They  never 
seem  to  advance  to  any  exalted  height  of  personal 
hohness.  They  are  sincere  and  in  earnest,  but  their 
earnestness  and  sincerity  begin  and  end  in  party 
feeling.     They  discuss,  and  argue,  and  criticise ;  and 


BEING    OFFENDED    IN    CHRIST.  87 

thereby  pander  to  their  own  vanity  ;  they  make 
themselves  heard,  and  the  world,  it  may  he,  admires 
their  energy ;  but  where  is  the  fruit  of  their  exer- 
tions ?  Unstable  as  water,  they  cannot  excel.  What- 
ever question  agitates  the  so-called  religious  world, 
excites  them,  and  they  eagerly  identify  themselves 
with  one  or  other  set  of  opinions.  And  where  the 
dutiful  and  humble-minded  are  glad  to  hold  their 
tongues  and  keep  silence,  maintaining  the  even  tenor 
of  their  way  in  the  quiet  discharge  of  daily  duties, 
these  persons  spend  their  lives  in  straining  at  gnats  and 
swallowing  camels,  paying  tithes  of  mint  and  cum- 
min, and  neglecting,  it  is  to  be  feared,  the  Aveightier 
matters  of  the  law,  self-discipline,  justice,  mercy, 
charity,  and  the  love  of  God. 

But  let  us,  my  brethren,  avoiding  the  snares  into 
which  they  fall,  whose  undisciplined  minds  put  no 
check  upon  their  natural  wilfulness  and  self-confi- 
dence, endeavour  to  appropriate  to  ourselves  the 
blessedness  promised  by  our  Lord  in  the  text. 
^•Blessed  is  he,  whosoever  shall  not  be  offended  in 
Men." 

It  has  pleased  God  to  make  everything  connected 
with  our  condition  in  this  world,  a  trial  of  our  faith 
and  patience.  Our  religion  has  its  mysteries,  and  its 
difficulties:  our  Church-membership  has  its  hin- 
drances,, and  (so  far  as  man  is  concerned  in  it)  its 


88  THE    BLESSEDNESS    OF    NOT 

imperfections.  But  these  difficulties  and  hindrances 
are  our  appointed  means  of  trial.  Through  them, 
and  in  spite  of  them,  we  must  make  our  way :  they 
must  be  vanquished  and  overcome  like  any  other 
temptation. 

But  since  it  is  a  far  easier  matter  to  maintain  our 
post,  in  the  first  instance,  than  to  regain  it  when  it 
has  been  once  lost  through  carelessness,  let  me,  in 
conclusion,  exhort  you  to  be  on  your  guard  against 
admitting  any  feeling  of  discontent  as  to  the  position 
in  which,  as  Churchmen,  the  Providence  of  God  has 
placed  you.  Depend  upon  it  that  little  good  is  ever 
likely  to  accrue  to  you,  from  any  display  of  your 
ingenuity  in  discovering  causes  of  offence.  There  is 
nothing  but  danger  that  can  result  from  unsettling 
your  own  minds  or  those  of  others ;  and  each  of  us, 
we  may  be  sure,  has  enough  to  reform  within,  with- 
out setting  himself  up  to  judge  the  Church.  It  is 
quite  time  enough  to  cry  out  for  more  privileges, 
when  we  have  availed  ourselves  to  the  utmost  of 
those  within  our  reach  ;  it  is  quite  time  enough  to 
pronounce  her  ordinances  insufficient  to  satisfy  an 
earnest  mind,  when  we  can  declare,  as  in  God's  pre- 
sence, that  we  have  Uved  up  to  them.  The  many 
who  speak  in  a  rude  irreverent  way  about  her,  are 
probably  incompetent  to  speak  at  all ;  they  merely 
follow  a  popular  clamour,  and  have  no  real  know- 


BEING    OFFENDED    IN    CHRIST.  89 

ledge  as  to  wliat  she  does,  or  what  she  docs  not 
teach. — But  where  any  one,  professing  attacljincnt 
to  the  Church,  and  not  uninstructed  in  her  doctrines, 
is  disposed  to  be  offended  in  her,  snrely  it  is  bat  fair 
to  inquire  of  him  whether  he  is  carefully  living  up  to 
what  she  prescribes  to  hin:i.  If  he  is  not,  he  is 
wholly  unfit  for  the  office  he  has  assumed. 

I  would  fain  hope  that  those  whom  I  address  are 
so  rooted  and  built  up  in  the  faith,  so  thankful  for 
the  innumerable  blessings  they  have  received  at  her 
hands,  that  they  have  not  a  wish,  nor  a  thought, 
beyond  the  Church  of  the  Prayer  Book  ;  and  that 
they  are  so  satisfied  that  all  things  necessary  to  sal- 
vation may  be  found  within  her  pale,  that  they 
would  never  join  with  those  who  find  cause  of  offence 
in  her.  But  while  I  gladly  believe  this  of  you,  let 
me  remind  you,  that  to  be  a  sincere  Churchman 
implies  something  more  than  a  mere  profession  of 
principles.  It  implies  a  constant,  diligent  walking  in 
all  the  Church's  ordinances.  It  implies  habits  of 
discipline  and  self-restraint.  It  implies  a  life  spent, 
according  to  your  means  and  abilities,  in  prayers, 
and  fasts,  and  alms.  ,It  implies  steadfastness,  and 
dihgence,  and  discretion,  and  humility  :  a  dread  of 
false  doctrine,  heresy,  and  schism,  and  yet  a  charity 
that  thinks  no  evil  and  hopes  the  best ;  that'  loves 
the  sinner,  even  while  it  hates  the  sin.     It  implies  a 


90  THE    BLESSEDNESS,    ETC. 

spirit  of  patience  and  forbearance,  a  readiness  to 
submit  to  misrepresentation  and  calumny,  and  a 
willingness  to  forgive  them  and  pass  them  by.  It 
implies  an  earnest  desire  to  remove  all  causes  of 
offence,  and  a  special  care  of  creating  them ;  but  it, 
likewise,  implies  a  full  pi^actical  belief  in  our 
Saviour's  words,  "Blessed  is  he,  whosoever  shall 
not  be  offended  in  Me ;"  and  an  earnest  fear  lest  by 
patting  any  slight  upon  the  Church,  we  should  incur 
the  anger  of  the  Church's  Lord,  of  Him  who  declared 
to  the  founders  of  that  Church,  "  He  that  heareth 
you,  heareth  Me  ;  and  he  that  despiseth  you,  de- 
spiseth  Me;  and  he  that  despiseth  Me,  despiseth 
Him  that  sent  Me." 


SERMON  VI. 

HOLINESS     IN    OURSELVES,    AND     FORBEARANCE     TO 
OTHERS. 

Mark  ix.  50. 

Have  salt  in  yourselves,  and  have  peace  one  with  another,  ^ 

Whatever  may  be  the  difficulties  and  uncertainty 
attending  the  interpretation  of  that  part  of  our  blessed 
Lord's  address  to  the  beloved  disciple,  which  imme- 
diately precedes  the  passage  I  have  just  read  to  you, 
the  text  itself  has  no  obscurity  whatever.  It  is  the 
simple  enunciation  of  a  command  which  we  are  all 
bound  to  obey ;  and  the  general  drift  and  connexion 
of  the  context  will,  in  spite  of  those  parts,  whose 
meaning  is  less  obvious,  be  so  far  clear  to  the  careful 
reader  of  his  Bible,  that  he  will  be  at  no  loss  to 
discover  the  kind  of  circumstances,  under  which  the 
discharge  of  the  duty  here  prescribed  becomes  espe- 
cially needful. 

Those  persons  who  have  made  it  their  business  to 
defend  our  Holy  Religion  from  the  assaults  of  un- 


92  HOLINESS    IN    OURSELVES, 

believers,  by  careful  consideration  of  those  external 
evidences  of  its  divine  origin,  which  are  unnecessary 
to  men  who,  like  ourselves,  have,  as  I  trust,  the 
testimony  of  its  truth  within  us, — these  Apologists  of 
Christianity  have  been  wont  to  adduce,  as  one  among 
many  other  proofs  in  favour  of  our  Lord's  commis- 
sion from  on  high,  that  if  He  had  been  a  deceiver. 
He  would  never  have  fixed  upon  such  persons  as 
those  whom  He  actually  selected  to  be  the  first 
preachers  of  the  Gospel.  And  a  moment's  reflection 
will  suffice  to  convince  us  that  there  is  great  force  in 
the  argument.  An  impostor  would  have  chosen 
instruments  who  gave  promise  of  immediate  useful- 
ness; if  he  intended  to  make  them  partners  in  his 
deceit,  he  would  have  fixed  on  the  subtle,  the  cool- 
headed,  the  daring;  if  his  object  was  to  deceive 
them,  he  would  have  invited  none  to  be  his  disciples 
but  the  weak,  the  dull,  the  unsuspicious. 

But  instead  of  this,  we  find  the  Founder  of  Christi- 
anity choosing  for  His  followers  a  class  of  persons 
whose  minds  were  just  of  that  very  temper,  which, 
supposing  Him  to  have  been  a  deceiver,  would  have 
given  Him  most  trouble.  The  Apostles  (I  am,  of 
course,  speaking  of  them  as  they  were  before  the  day 
of  Pentecost)  showed  themselves  to  be  anything  rather 
than  ready  to  give  implicit  faith  to  their  Master's 
teaching;  they  were  frequently  jealous  of  one  another; 


AND    FORBEARANCE    TO    OTHERS.  93 

there  was  little  or  no  bond  of  union  between  them  ; 
and  the  moment  the  Shepherd  was  smitten,  the  sheep 
were  scattered  abroad. 

If  such  men  became,  in  after  times,  the  successful 
preachers  of  the  Gospel,  it  could  only  be,  first,  because 
what  they  preached  was  true,  and,  therefore,  God  was 
Avith  them;  and  secondly,  because  they  had  prepared 
themselves  for  their  task  of  Christianizing  the  world, 
by  disciplining  themselves  into  obedience  to  those 
rules  which  their  Heavenly  Master  laid  down  for 
their  guidance. 

Now  I  will  show  you  how  that  which  I  have  been 
saying  applies  to  the  text.  It  appears  that  on  a 
certain  occasion  a  strife  arose  among  the  disciples 
which  should  be  greatest.  Our  blessed  Lord  had  just 
before  been  transfigured  in  the  presence  of  Peter, 
James,  and  John,  and  it  is  not  impossible  that  the 
favour  shown  to  them  might  have  been  resented  by 
some  other  of  the  Apostles,  who  felt  themselves  their 
superiors  in  age,  or  of  nearer  kin  to  Jesus.  Be  this 
as  it  may,  there  was  a  strife  ;  and  He  who  reads  their 
hearts,  availed  Himself  of  the  opportunity  to  warn 
them  that  the  temper  they  then  exhibited  was  the 
very  last  which  would  find  favour  in  His  kingdom. 
*'  If  any  man,"  said  He,  "  desire  to  be  first,  the  same 
shall  be  last  of  all,  and  servant  of  all.'^  And  then, 
after  setting  a  little  child  before  them  as  an  emblem 


94  HOLINESS    IN    OURSELVES, 

of  that  freedom  from  pride,  and  contentiousness,  and 
ambition,  which  is  indispensable  to  those  who  desire 
to  be  greatest  in  the  kingdom  of  God ;  after  admon- 
ishing them  of  the  peril  in  which  they  stand,  who, 
by  their  evil  tempers,  put  stumbling-blocks  in  the 
way  of  the  weakest  of  God's  servants ;  and  of  the 
necessity  of  making  any  surrender  rather  than  incur 
such  a  risk;  He  concludes  by  declaring  that  as  every 
burnt-oifering  under  the  law  was  first  salted  with  salt, 
and  then  consumed  by  fire :  so  every  one  who  has 
been  instructed  in  the  doctrine  of  the  Gospel,  if,  when 
he  is  tried,  he  be  found  not  sincere,  shall  be  destroyed 
by  the  eternal  fire  of  Divine  Wrath.  "  Salt,"  He 
adds,  "is  good:  but  if  the  salt  have  lost  its  saltness, 
wherewith  will  ye  season  it?  Have  salt  in  your- 
selves, and  have  peace  one  with  another."  The 
doctrine,  that  is,  wherein  I  have  instructed  you,  will 
make  you  wise  and  good,  will  save  you  from  the 
corruptions  of  the  world,  and  enable  you  to  teach 
others  to  preserve  themselves  unto  life  eternal.  But 
if  you,  thus  instructed,  shall,  instead  of  teaching 
others,  fall  away  yourselves,  either  through  hope  or 
fear  of  any  earthly  thing,  you  will  become  the  most 
unprofitable,  and  inexcusable  of  men.  Take  heed, 
therefore,  that  ye  continue  steadfast  in  the  faith 
yourselves,  and  let  no  ambitious  designs,  no  fooHsh 
contentions  among  yourselves,  or  fear  of  outward 


AND    FORBEARANCE    TO    OTHERS.  95 

sud'ering  or  persecution,  hinder  the  propagation  of 
the  truth  among  others. 

Here,  then,  v*ms  the  rule  for  the  first  disciples  of  the 
Lord,  and  in  them  for  ns.  They  were  to  have  salt 
in  themselves, — to  have  within  them  a  fixed  and 
settled  principle,  pervading  their  whole  character,  and 
preserving  them  untainted,  and  nncorrupted,  amid 
surrounding  evil.  And  with  this  distinctive  mark 
about  them,  which  could  not  but,  in  great  measure, 
render  them  different  from  the  mass  of  mankind,  and 
even  (in  proportion  as  they  had  more  or  less  of  it) 
different  from  those  who  received  like  faith  with  them, 
they  were  to  have  peace  one  with  another :  to  be  free 
from  jealousy  at  others'  privileges,  and  from  envying 
their  attainments ;  to  be  ready  to  give  them  credit 
for  the  same  purity  of  motive  by  which  they  were 
actuated  themselves;  to  temper  their  zeal  with 
discretion  and  charity ;  to  be  humble  about  them- 
selves, and  to  think  more  highly  of  others  than  of 
themselves;  and  to  postpone  all  personal  considera- 
tions to  the  advancement  of  their  Master's  cause,  and 
making  His  religion  lovely  in  the  eyes  of  men.  They 
were  to  have  peace  one  with  another,  because  else, 
their  labours  would  be  all  in  vain  ;  for  a  kingdom 
divided  against  itself  is  brought  to  desolation.  They 
were  to  have  peace  one  with  another,  because,  else, 
oifences  must  needs  come,  and  their  Lord  had  pro- 


96  HOLINESS    IN    OURSELVES, 

noiiiiced  His  sentence  of  wo  upon  him  by  whom  the 
OiTence  cometh. 

Ill  a  few  words,  then,  the  admonition  of  the  text 
seems  to  require  this,  that  they  \vho  are  Christ's 
servants  employ  themselves  in  the  quiet  discharge  of 
their  own  duties,  instead  of  interfering  with  others; 
and  that  in  their  intercourse  with  others  they  exhibit 
^'  the  ornament  of  a  meek  and  quiet  spirit,"  which  the 
Apostle  assures  us,  "is,  in  the  sight  of  God,  of  great 
price."  And  I  conceive  that  this  admonition  is  one 
to  which  it  behoves  us  to  pay  great  attention,  espe- 
cially at  the  present  time,  when  there  seems  on  all 
sides  a  determination  to  forget  it. 

It  pleased  God  to  make  it  the  trial  of  our  fathers, 
in  the  last  generation,  that  their  lot  should  be  cast  in 
a  season  when  men  were  in  a  state  of  apathy  and 
slumber,  with  respect  to  holy  things  :  the  standard 
both  of  faith  and  practice  was  very  low,  and  the 
Church  being  inactive,  her  authority  and  ordinances 
were  despised. 

Our  trial  is  of  a  different,  but  not  less  perilous  kind. 
We  are  living  in  the  midst  of  controversy  and  agita- 
tion ;  when  there  is  everywhere  much  noise  and 
clamour  about  religion,  and  much  open  profession  of 
it,  without,  I  fear,  anything  at  all  approaching  to  a 
corresponding  practice.  I  am  speaking  of  ourselves, 
as  Churchmen  :  for  with  all  that  is  without  we  have 


AND    FORBEARANCE    TO    OTHERS.  97 

nothing  to  do.  It  is  sufficient  that  we  judge  our- 
selves. With  those  who  are  gone  out  from  us,  we 
have  no  concern,  except  in  our  prayers  for  them. 
Those  who  will  not  ^Miear  the  Church,"  ought,  so  far 
as  associating  with  them  is  concerned,  to  be  unto  us 
as  heathen  men  and  publicans.  "Mark  them," 
writes  St.  Paul,  "  which  cause  divisions  and  oifences 
contrary  to  the  doctrines  which  ye  have  learned,  and 
avoid  them." 

Looking,  then,  to  our  own  branch  of  the  Church 
Catholic  at  the  present  time,  we  find  in  it  much  of 
angry  partizanship,  much  of  strife  and  debate,  much 
of  jealousy,  suspicion  and  uncharitableness.  Such 
ever  has  been,  such  must  ever  be  the  case,  when  men 
are  in  earnest.  And  grievous  as  is  the  sight,  never- 
theless it  is  an  evidence  that  there  is  still  life  within 
us.  Let  us  pray  Him  Who  is  ever  bringing  good  out 
of  evil,  that  as  sparks  of  fire  are  produced  by  the 
collision  of  flint  and  steel,  so  the  truth  of  God  may  be 
more  clearly,  made  manifest  in  this  war  of  antagenist 
principles,  that  so  meek  and  quiet  minds  may  learn 
their  way  more  clearly,  and  also  that  the  good  which 
is  brought  to  the  surface  by  all  this  troubling  of  the 
waters,  may  retain  its  buoyancy,  while  the  evil  may 
sink  like  lead  into  the  depths  ! 

Yet,  while  we  admit  that  controversy  is  a  sign  of 
hfe,  let  us  never  forget  that  they  who  love  contro- 
9* 


98  HOLINESS    IN    OURSELVES, 

versy  for  its  own  sake  cannot  be  otherwise  than 
hateful  characters,  with  tempers  far  removed  from 
the  kingdom  of  God,  and  having  but  litde  of  that 
Spirit  whose  fruits  are  not  hatred  and  variance,  emu- 
lations and  strife,  heresies  and  envying,  but  love  and 
peace,  and  long-suffering,  and  gentleness,  and  meek- 
ness, and  temperance. 

To  rush  unbidden  into  controversy  ;  to  be  a  voluble 
talker  about  other  men's  opinions ;  to  use  harsh 
words ;  to  judge,  and  criticize,  and  condemn,  are  sure 
signs  of  a  weak,  unchastened,  unchristian  spirit, 
unable  to  control  itself,  and,  therefore,  wholly  unfit 
to  pass  sentence  on  others. 

And  it  is  one  of  the  worst  features  of  the  present 
time,  that  in  almost  every  class  of  society,  some  of 
these  fluent  talkers  arc  to  be  found,  who,  so  long  as 
they  can  attract  notice  to  themselves,  and  render 
themselves  conspicuous,  seem  to  care  Uttle  or  nothing 
for  the  mischief  they  may  be  doing,  for  the  calumnies 
they*may  help  to  disseminate,  the  minds  they  may 
unsettle,  the  stumbling-blocks  they  may  put  in  a 
brother's  way.  They  give  no  thought  that  what  they 
scatter  are  firebrands.  "  It  is  sport,"  saith  Solomon, 
"  it  is  sport  to  a  fool  to  do  mischief" 

And  it  is  a  yet  more  sad  consideration,  that  many 
of  those  who  so  forget  the  law  of  Christ  are  the 
young,  the  rising  generation.     And  no  wonder  ;  for 


AND    FORBEARANCE    TO    OTHERS.  99 

the  tree  is  known  by  its  fruits.  Never  was  there  a 
generation  less  inclined  to  give  honour  where  honour 
is  due,  by  which  age  was  treated  with  less  reverence, 
and  tlic  opinion  of  elders  with  less  respect ;  in  which 
knowledge  was  more  shallow  and  superficial,  in 
Avhich,  with  respect  to  that  knowledge,  there  was 
more  self-confidence,  and  self-conceit;  and  in  which 
there  was  more  waywardness,  wilfulness,  and  im- 
patience of  control. 

Why  need  we  marvel  if,  among  minds  so  con- 
stituted, we  find  some  who  are  not  afraid  to  look 
down  upon  and  despise  their  parents  ?  who  think  it 
no  shame  to  set  themselves  up  as  judges  of  the 
opinions  and  motives  of  their  spiritual  pastors  ?  who 
count  it  a  proof  of  tlieir  superior  discrimination  that 
they  are  dissatisfied  with  their  Church,  and  hanker 
after  something  which  they  find  not  in  her,  though 
they  neither  carry  out  her  system  in  themselves,  nor 
make  the  most  of  the  privileges  which  she  confers  on 
them  ?  Can  it,  in  any  sense,  however,  be  said  of  such 
persons,  that  they  have  "  salt"  in  themselves  ?  I  trow 
not. 

For  let  us  consider  what  it  is  to  have  salt  in  our- 
selves. Is  it  not  to  be  rooted  and  grounded  in  our 
opinions  upon  full  and  sufficient  reasons,  not  as  taking 
a  one  sided  view,  still  less  a  choosing  our  side  from 
party-motives  ?  but  because,  having  adequate  know- 


100  HOLINESS    IN    OURSELVES, 

leclgGjand  having  allowed  ourselves  ample  time  for 
deliberation,  and  aided  ourselves  with  the  judgments" 
of  those  whom  God  has  set  over  us,  we  have  at 
length  arrived  at  a  sober  decision  ?  Is  it  not,  moreover, 
to  make  our  practice  consort  with  that  decision  ?  Is 
it  not  to  be  thoroughly  furnished  unto  all  good  works, 
instead  of  exhibiting  a  motley  inconsistency,  voluble 
in  words,  but  deficient  in  deeds?  Does  it  not  involve, 
too,  something  of  the  principle  of  "  keeping  ourselves 
to  ourselves,"  as  the  sajdngis:  of  not  thrusting  in 
with  irreverent  haste  the  expression  of  our  own  crude 
opinions  upon  all  occasions  ?  Does  it  not  imply  with 
respect  to  our  actions,  an  obedience  to  the  Apostolic 
injunction,  that  we  "study  to  be  quiet,  and  to  do  our 
own  business,"  and  with  reference  to  our  words,  that 
we  attend  to  St.  Paul's  exhortations,  "  Let  your 
speech  be  alway  with  grace,  seasoned  with  salt,  that 
ye  may  know  how  ye  ought  to  answer  every  man :" 
and,  "  Let  no  corrupt  communication  proceed  out  of 
your  mouth,  but  that  which  is  good  to  the  use  of 
edifying,  tha^  it  may  minister  grace  unto  the  hearers  ?" 
Will  not  he  who  has  "  salt"  in  himself,  have  gained 
some  knowledge  of  the  defects  of  his  own  character, 
and  will  not  this  knowledge  teach  him  to  refrain  his 
lips  from  expressing  strong  opinions  either  about 
individuals  or  doctrines?  Will  not  the  experience  of 
his  own  past  weaknesses  and  infirmities,  of  the  many 


AND    FORBEARANCE    TO    OTHERS.  101 

mistakes  into  which  he  has  fallen,  and  of  the  many 
silly  things  he  has  said  and  done,  make  him  humble 
about  himself,  and  incline  him  rather  to  shrink  from 
observation,  than  find  a  morbid  pleasure  in  rendering 
himself  conspicuous,  and  glory  in  making  his  friends 
uneasy  by  his  adoption  of  extreme  views  ?  Will  he 
not, — if  he  has  salt  in  himself,  if  he  is  in  earnest,  if 
he  has  any  adequate  notioli  of  the  position  hi  which 
he  stands,  and  of  the  work  which  he  has  to  do, — •' 
will  he  not  be  among  those  who  feel  the  truth  too 
deeply  to  allow  themselves  to  make  it  the  subject  of 
common,  and  therefore,  of  irreverent  conversation  ? 
Of  course,  in  saying  this,  I  do  not  mean  that  people 
are  not  to  make  up  their  minds  decidedly  on  the 
subjects  which  agitate  us,  nor  to  express  their  honest 
opinion  upon  proper  occasions :  but  I  do  mean 
tliat  it  is  a  mark  of  a  light,  and  vain,  and  frivolous 
mind  (to  use  no  harsher  term)  to  be  continually 
speaking  on  such  subjects :  it  is  a  mark  of  a  very 
undisciplined  mind  to  speak  at  all  in  a  tone  of  self- 
confidence,  and  as  if  none  were  wiser  than  ourselves  : 
and  it  is  a  mark  of  a  very  uncharitable,  and,  there- 
fore, unchristian  mind,  which  allows  itself  to  attribute 
evil  motives  to  those  who  differ  from  it,  to  speak  of 
them  shghtingly,and  unkindly ;  and  above  all,  which 
is  not  afraid  to  gratify  itself,  by  saying  just  the  most 
irritating  thing  hi  just  the  most  irritating  way,  when 


102  HOLINESS    IN    OURSELVES^ 

they  who  desire  the  peace  of  Zion  would  rather 
suffer  anything  personally,  than  increase  the  distrac- 
tions whi-ch  they  see  around  them.  "Have  salt  in 
yourselves,  and  have  peace  one  with  anotlier." 

While  the  world  stands,  there  must  always  be 
points  upon  which  the  most  devoted  and  conscien- 
tious servants  of  God  will  differ.  There  always  have 
been  conflicting  opinions  on  the  subjects  which  agi- 
tate ourselves,  and  there  is  no  prospect  or  likelihood 
that  it  should  ever  be  otherwise.  It  is  a  well-known 
ftict  that  those  who  drew  up  the  Articles  of  our  own 
Church,  did  so  with  the  wish  of  comprehending,  not 
of  excluding,  as  many  as  possible.  They  fixed,  as  it 
were,  certain  limits  which  could  not  be  passed  over 
by  those  who  continued  to  hold  communion  with  us : 
but  the  space  within  those  limits  is  a  wide  one,  and 
there  the  exercise  of  individual  judgment  was  per- 
mitted. "  There  must  always,  as  it  has  been  most 
justly  said,  "be  allowable  points  of  difference  in  the 
opinions  of  good  men,  and  it  is  only  where  such  opin- 
ions are  carried  into  extremes,  or  are  mooted  in  a 
spirit  which  tends  to  schism,  that  the  interference  of 
those  in  authority  in  the  Church  is  called  for." 

The  rule  laid  down  by  the  Lord  for  His  disciples 
was,  that  they  should  have  peace  one  with  another. 
And  we  possess  abundant  evidence  that  in  the  first 
ages  of  the  Church,  among  those  who  were  Christians 


AND  rORBEARANCE  TO  OTHERS.       103 

indeed,  mutual  forbearance,  peace,  and  love  was  the 
distinguishing  characteristic.  "See  how  these  Chris- 
tians love  one  anotlier,"  was  the  confession  of  their 
very  enemies.  And  yet  we  know  that  for  all  this, 
there  was  no  time-serving  concession  of  principles,  or 
yielding  up  of  truths  which  ought  to  be  maintained. 
We  all  remember  how,  when  St.  Peter  was  to  be 
blamed,  St.  Paul  withstood  him  to  the  face  ;  and  how 
so  sharp  a  contention  arose  between  St.  Paul  and  St. 
Barnabas,  that  "  they  departed  asunder  the  one  from 
the  other."  And  yet  we  may  be  sure  that  there  was 
no  breach  of  Christian  communion  between  them.  In 
the  essentials  of  religion,  in  those  things,  that  is,  where 
belief  affects  salvation,  they  walked  by  the  same  rule, 
they  minded  the  same  thing.  And  where,  in  things 
of  lower  consequence,  they  differed,  each  acted  ac- 
cording to  his  honest  opinion,  and  gave  his  brother 
credit  for  doing  the  like. 

Let  their  example  be  a  guide  to  us.  Let  us  learn 
from  them  something  of  that  spirit  of  Christian  charity, 
which,  "rejoiceth  not  in  iniquity,  but  rejoiceth  in  the 
truth,  which  beareth  all  things,  believeth  all  things, 
hopeth  all  things,  endureth  all  things."  The  better 
Ave  think  of  our  neighbour,  and  the  worse  we  think 
of  ourselves,  the  more  likely  are  we  to  be  right  in  our 
judgment.     The  more  we  have  salt  in  ourselves,  the 


i04  HOLINESS    IN    OURSELVES, 

more  glad  shall  we  be  to  have  peace  one  with 
another. 

It  is  a  very  easy  thing  to  make  a  show  of  being 
religious.  There  is  little  difficulty  in  working  our- 
selves up  into  a  state  of  excitment  about  the  so-called 
religious  questions  of  the  day.  A  mere  smattering 
of  knowledge  will  enable  us  to  talk  boldly  and 
fluently  on  the  subject.  A  very  little  cleverness  and 
assurance  will  enable  us  to  silence  grave,  earnest- 
minded  persons,  for  they  will  not  condescend  to  argue 
with  us.  And  we  shall  not  have  much  trouble  in 
deceiving  ourselves  into  the  belief  that  we  are  a  great 
deal  wiser  and  better  than  our  elders,  our  appointed 
ministers,  or  even  than  the  Church  herself. 

If  to  have  these  outward  signs  of  religious  fanati- 
cism is  to  be  held  tantamount  to  being  religious, 
religion  is  a  much  easier  thing  than  the  Bible  repre- 
sents it.  But  it  is  a  thing  which,  though  it  may 
amuse  the  head,  will  never  amend  the  heart.  It  may 
interest  the  fancy,  and  excite  the  imagination,  but  it 
will  have  no  effect  upon  our  lives  or  manners.  From 
such  a  religion,  and  from  those  who  so  exemplify  it, 
let  us  turn  away.  Pure  religion  and  undefiled 
before  God  and  the  Father  is  a  widely  different  mat- 
ter, and  they  who  exercise  it  will  find  little  in  it  that 
is  easy,  even  though  in  its  difficulties  there  is  the 


AND    rOUBEAKANCE    TO    OTIIEIIS.  105 

accompaniment  of  a  present  reward.  If  wc  would 
be  consistently  and  truly  religious,  we  must  have 
salt  in  ourselves  and  have  peace  one  with  another. 
In  all  that  relates  to  ourselves  we  must  be  strict, 
unsparing,  merciless.  In  what  relates  to  our  neigh- 
bours we  must  be  full  of  tenderness  and  compassion, 
ready  to  meet  them  half  way,  and  put  the  best  con- 
struction on  all  they  do.  We  must  distrust  ourselves, 
our  motives,  our  tempers,  our  judgments.  We  must 
learn  to  think  meanly  of  ourselves,  and  not  to  be 
offended  when  others  think  meanly  of  us.  We  must 
learn  to  hold  our  thoughts  and  words  in  control. 
We  must  beware  how  we  get  into  ways  which  may 
prove  a  snare  to  us  by  making  us  insincere.  Above 
all,  we  must  take  heed  how  we  condemn  our  neigh- 
bour. Of  ourselves,  and  our  errors  and  transgressions, 
we  may  know  all  that  we  will :  but  of  him,  we  can 
know  but  little  :  of  his  motives,  his  opportunities,  and 
the  excuses  that  are  to  be  made  for  him,  we  must 
continue  in  ignorance.  The  only  questions  of  any 
consequence  as  respects  him  are,  whether  we  have 
helped  him  by  word  and  good  example,  and  whether 
(if  need  has  arisen)  we  have  forgiven  him  as  God 
for  Christ's  sake  forgave  us  ? 

As  respects  ourselves,  however,  there  is  a  question 
which  it  behoves  us  often  to  ask  ourselves,  and  dili 

10 


106  HOLINESS    IN    OURSELVES,    ETC. 

gently  to  answer ;  and  that  question  is  this.  "  Who 
art  thou  that  judgest  another  man's  servant  ?  To  his 
own  Master  he  standeth  or  falleth  .  .  .  But  why 
dost  thou  judge  thy  brother?  or  why  dost  thou  set 
at  nought  thy  brother  ?  For  we  shall  all  stand  before 
the  judgment  seat  of  Christ." 


SERMON  VII. 

ON    SINS    OF    THE    TONGUE. 

Matthew  xii.  36. 

I  say  unto  you,  that  every  idle  Avord  that  men  shall  speak,  they 
shall  giv^e  account  thereof  in  the  day  of  judgment. 

This  text,  inasmncli  as  it  affords  us  a  sample  of 
the  extent  to  which  the  inquiry  will  be  carried,  and 
of  the  minuteness,  and  particularity  of  the  investiga- 
tion which  will  take  place  at  the  last  day,  may  be 
considered  one  of  the  most  awful  and  alarming  pass- 
ages that  is  to  be  found  in  the  whole  compass  of  the 
revealed  Will  of  God. 

It  is  enough  to  make  our  very  hearts  ciie  within 
us,  to  reflect  that  for  every  wicked  word  we  shall  be 
judged  on  that  day,  in  which  the  balance  shall  be 
struck  between  good  and  evil,  and  our  lots  be  cast 
in  heaven  or  hell. 

It  is  terrible  enough  to  think  of  wliat  may  be  the 
amount  of  evil, — known,  and  confessed,  and  un- 


lOS  ON    SINS    OF    THE    TONGUE. 

questioned  ev^7,  which  may  fall  from  the  lips  of  any- 
one of  us,  in  any  single  year  of  our  lives:  but  the 
Scripture  I  have  jnst  read  to  you  teaches  us,  that  for 
every  idle  word  that  men  shall  speak,  they  shall  give 
account  thereof  in  the  day  of  judgment. 

Every  idle  word,  every  thoughtless  speech,  every 
unprofitable,  unedifying  conversation,  every  frivolous 
and  foolish  remark,  everything  that  we  ourselves 
should  be  the  first  to  pronounce  not  worth  repeating, 
will  be  repeated  in  the  face  of  the  assembled  world, 
before  men  and  angels,  and  form  part  of  the  Accuser's 
charges  against  us. 

The  blasphemer,  and  the  profane  swearer,  will 
hear  their  sentence  of  well-deserved  condemnation : 
this  we  know  from  many  a  passage  of  Holy  Writ; 
but  if  this  be  the  case,  how  can  we  hesitate  to  infer 
from  the  text  before  us,  that  he  who  speaks  lightly 
or  irreverently  of  Holy  things, — who  can  point  a 
jest  with  scriptural  quotation, — who  presumes  to 
trifle  with  the  Law  of  God,  by  softening  down  or 
explaining  away  what  that  has  strictly  enjoined, — 
or  who  talks  at  all  about  religion,  when  he  knows  that 
his  doing  so  will  expose  it  to  the  mocking  of  unholy 
tongues;  how,  I  say,  can  we  hesitate  to  infer  that 
such  a  person  has  involved  himself  in  an  amount  of 
guilt,  as  great  as  it  is  probably  unsuspected,  and  that 
he  will   be  judged  hereafter  with  a  very  different 


ON    SINS    OF    THE    TONGUE.  109 

judgment,  and  by  a  very  different  rule,  from  that 
Avliich  he  at  present  expects  ? 

"  Whoremongers  and  aduUerers,"  our  Bible  tells 
us,  "  will  God  judge  :"  and  the  same  volume  assures 
us,  that  "he  that  looketh  on  a  woman  to  lust  after 
her,  hath  already  committed  adultery  with  her  in  his 
heart." — Such  being  the  case,  can  we  fail  to  draw 
the  conclusion  which  my  text  renders  so  obvious, 
that  the  expression  of  implied  hupurity, — the  words 
which  raise  or  encourage  a  sensual  thought,  ^he  sen- 
tence uttered  with  a  double  sense — language  such  as 
the  world  uses  when  it  would  palliate  the  enormous 
guilt  of  fornication  and  adultery,  and  in  which  its 
way  is  to  speak  as  though  things  were  venial,  because 
they  are  common, — shall  we  fail  to  draw  the  con- 
clusion, that  any  language,  in  short,  which  has 
uncleanness  in  its  source,  or  which  fosters,  however 
remotely,  those  fleshly  lusts  which  war  against  the 
soul, — is  hateful  in  the  sight  of  Him,  Who  is  Purity 
itself,  and  readeth  hearts;  and  that  it  will  be  judged 
by  him  hereafter,  with  a  righteous  judgment  ? 

"All  liars,"  saith  the  word  of  God,  "shall  have 
their  part  in  the  lake  which  burnetii  with  fire  and 
brimstone,  which  is  the  second  death:"  and  in  this 
fearful  doom  is  to  be  comprised  not  only  he  that 
"maketh,"  but  he  that  loveth  a  lie." 

Seeing,  then,  that  these  things  are  so,  can  we 
10* 


no  ON    SINS    OF    THE    TONGUE. 

avoid  the  manifest  deduction  from  my  text,  namely, 
that  they  whose  conversation  is  chiefly  about  their 
neighbours'  actions,  and  who  (in  order  to  make  that 
conversation  agreeable  and  amusing  in  the  opinion 
of  the  world)  are  perpetually  on  the  look-out  for 
anecdotes  of  their  neighbours'  follies  and  infirmities, 
— who  repeat  without  scruple  the  tales  and  cahimnies 
of  the  day, — who  purposely  misrepresent,  or  who 
carelessly  exaggerate, — who  tell  the  truth,  but  not 
the  whole  truth, — shall,  in  proportion  to  their  error, 
be  called  on  to  account  for  it  before  the  judgment- 
seat  of  Christ  ? 

And,  to  quote  one  more  instance, — (common 
enough,  it  is  to  be  feared,  in  the  present  times,  and 
therefore  very  needful  for  the  consideration  of  all,) — 
we  are  solemnly  warned  by  St.  Peter,  that  they 
who  ^' speak  evil"  of  their  fellow-christians  "shall 
give  an  account"  thereof  "  to  Him  that  is  ready  to 
judge  the  quick  and  the  dead."  For  the  calumniator, 
therefore,  of  his  neighbour's  good  deeds  and  motives, 
for  the  censorious,  for  the  back-biter,  for  the  mischief- 
maker,  for  the  malignant  and  uncharitable  man  who 
arraigns  the  sincerity  and  disinterestedness  of  those 
with  whose  religious  opinions  he  disagrees,  the 
vengeance  of  God  is  preparing.  He  that  judgeth  his 
brother,  shall  himself  be  judged  :  he  that  condemneth 
his  brother,  shall  himself  be  condemned. 


ON    SINS    OF    THE    TONGUE.  Ill 

Now  if  this  be  true, — and  who  shall  gainsay  it  ? — 
Can  we  any  of  us  read  the  solemn  warning  of  the 
Saviour  in  my  text,  that ''  every  id/e  word  that  men 
shall  speak,  they  shall  give  account  thereof  in  the 
day  of  judgment,"  and  reading  it,  can  we  lull  our- 
selves into  the  belief  that  it  is  innocent,. that  it  is 
harmless,  that  it  is  safe,  to  make  those  questions 
which  are  agitating  and  distracting  our  Church,  a 
subject  of  common  conversation,  on  common  occa- 
sions ? — That  we  shall  not  be  held  responsible  for 
it,  if  by  any  word  of  our's  we  increase  existing  ani- 
mosities and  divisions  ? — If  we  allow  ourselves  to 
make  use  of  party  epithets,  to  talk  irreverently  and 
uncharitably,  to  put  stumbling-blocks  in  the  way  of 
weaker  brethren,  to  say  anything  which,  if  repeated, 
will  excite  angry  feelings  and  irritation  among  those 
with  whom  we  differ;  to  disseminate  those  unprofit- 
able, or  ill-natured  rumours  of  the  day,  with  respect 
to  the  excesses  (whether  on  one  side  or  the  other)  of 
those  who  maintain  extreme  opinions,  and  whose 
judgment  may  not  be  as  sound  as  their  intentions 
are  pure  ? 

I  know  how  little  scruple  many  have  in  doing 
these  things;  I  know  how  easy  is  the  process  of  self- 
deception,  how  easy  to  persuade  oneself  that  denun- 
ciation of  error  is  a  duty  of  all  persons  at  all  times, 
that  not  to  maintain  what  we  believe  to  be  truth  is  to 


112  ON    SINS    OF    THE    TONGUE. 

betray  it,  and  that  that  is  religious  and  edifying  con- 
versation, which,  in  point  of  fact,  is  Uttle  more  than 
tattUng  and  censoriousness.  I  know  how  little  apt 
we  are  to  suspect  our  motives  in  such  matters,  or  to 
consider  whether  our  apparent  zeal  may  not  be  a 
cloak  for  maliciousness  or  some  evil  temper :  but  it  is 
impossible  not  to  trace  the  perilous  effects,  which  this 
sort  of  license  produces  on  the  souls  of  individuals, 
and  it  is  no  difficult  task  to  perceive  the  evil  which  it 
brings  upon  the  Church,  and,  therefore,  I  come  to 
the  conclusion  that  herein  an  offence  is  committed 
against  God,  for  which,  as  for  more  obvious  trans- 
gressions, men  will  be  held  accountable  hereafter. 

Having  made  these  observations,  I  proceed  to  offer 
some  remarks  on  the  circumstances  under  which  the 
words  of  the  text  were  spoken. 

It  appears  that,  on  a  certain  occasion,  some 
wretched  being  had  been  brought  to  our  Lord, 
"  possessed  with  a  devil," — one,  in  whom,  besides  the 
usual  characteristics  of  possession,  there  were  united 
the  terrible  afflictions  of  the  loss  of  sight  and  speech. 

At  the  word  of  the  Redeemer  the  evil  spirit  was 
cast  forth,  and,  immediately,  "  the  blind  and  dumb 
both  spake  and  saw."  The  Pharisees,  unable  to 
deny  the  miracle,  yet  unwilling  to  admit  the  Divine 
authority  of  our  blessed  Lord,  attributed  the  cure  *n 
the  agency  of  the  chief  of  the  devils,  even  while  theu 


ON    SINS    OF    THE    TONGUE.    '  113 

own  hearfs  must  have  borne  them  witness,  tliat  so 
gracious  and  merciful  an  act  could  only  have  ema- 
nated from  the  Author  of  all  good, — the  Holy  Spirit 
of  God. 

'Our  Saviour  reminded  them  of  this,  and  pressed 
upon  them  the  argument,  that  if  Satan  were  to  cast 
out  devils, — if  the  source  of  evil  was  to  become  the 
dest7'oi/er  o{ evil,  his  kingdom  would  come  to  an  end, 
and  the  powers  of  hell  be  overthrown.  But  our 
Lord's  address  to  the  Pharisees  did  not  end  here. 
They  had  been  guilty  of  the  most  fearful  sin  into 
which  man, — at  that  time,  and  in  their  days, — could 
fall  ;  and,  therefore,  that  Saviour  whom  they  denied, 
in  His  love  and  mercy  proceeded  to  warn  them  of  it. 
They  had  been  guilty  of  that  blasphemy,  which 
Scripture  designates  as  the  ^'sin  against  the  Holy 
Cxhost ;"  tliey  had  involved  themselves  in  the  guilt 
of  that  o?ie  sin,  which  the  word  of  God  declares  can 
never  be  forgiven. 

The  nature  of  their  sin  was  this :  seeing  the 
miracles  which  Jesus  did,  and  knowing  in  their  own 
minds  that  they  were  done  "  with  the  finger  of  God," 
these  unhappy  m.en  wilfully  hardened  their  hearts, 
and  professed  to  believe  that  God's  work  was  the 
work  of  devils. 

Now,  why  was  this  sin  unpardonable.^  Simply 
for  this  reason, — because,  as  it  is  the  Holy  Ghost 


114  'ON    SINS    OF    THE    TONGUE. 

alone  Who  leads  men  to  repentance,  puts  into  their 
minds  good  desires,  and  gives  them  grace  to  bring 
the  same  to  good  effect,  so  long  as  any  persons  deny 
the  Godhead  and  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  refuse 
Him  admission  into  their  hearts,  and  wilfully  and 
obstinately  blaspheme  His  name,  so  long  it  is  im- 
possible that  they  should  ever  be  led  to  faith  and 
repentance;  and  without  faith  and  repentance  none 
can  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  Heaven.  Sin  against 
the  Holy  Ghost,  therefore,  is  unpardonable,  not 
because  He  will  not  pardon,  but  because  men  will 
not  accept  His  forgiveness.  Sin  against  the  Holy 
Ghost  is  unpardonable,  because  in  rejecting  Him, 
men  reject  the  only  means  by  which  they  can  be 
forgiven. 

The  Spirit  of  God  strives  with  them,  warns  them, 
admonishes  them  unceasingly,  by  that  voice  of  con- 
science which  He  has  placed  within  them ;  but  if,  in 
spite  of  this.  He  is  deliberately  blasphemed  and 
rejected,  He  can  do  no  more.  Almighty  though 
He  be,  it  is  not  in  the  scope  of  His  designs  to  force 
men  to  receive  Him  against  their  will;  else  they 
would  no  longer  be  free  agents.  Therefore,  when 
He  is  finally  rejected,  the  sinner  must  be  left  to  his 
fate;  to  remain  uuforgiven  in  this  world, and  also  in 
that  which  is  to  come. 

There  is  consolation,  brethren,  in  the  thought,  that 


ON    SINS    OF    THE    TONGUE.  115 

it  is  scarcely  possible,  perhaps,  for  Christians  at  the 
present  day  to  fall  into  that  precise  degree  of  sin,  of 
which  our  Lord  warned  the  hard-hearted  Pharisees. 
But  if  we  have  ground  of  consolation,  it  be- 
hoves us  to  remember  that  we  have  also  abundant 
need  of  watchfulness.  We  may  not  be  in  great 
danger  of  committing  the  sin  against  the  Holy 
Ghost  of  which  the  Gospel  speaks ;  but  every  wilful 
sin' at  least  tends  that  way.  Whenever  we  purposely 
and  deliberately  break  one  single  vow  which  we 
made  at  Baptism,  whenever  we  knowingly  resist 
Him,  Whose  temples  we  are,  whenever  we  inten- 
tionally grieve  Him,  and  harden  our  hearts  against 
His  admonitions  and  His  grace,  we  are  most  as- 
suredly on  the  same  path  (though  we  may  not  have 
advanced  far  along  it)  with  those  who  in  the  end 
committed  a  sin  which  Vv^as  unpardonable.  Six 
transgressions  there  are  especially,  which,  as  holy 
men  have  taught  us,  do  forerun  the  sin  against  the 
Spirit  of  God :  despair  of  salvation,  presumption 
of  God's  mercy,  impugning  known  truth,  envy  at 
another's  grace,  obstinacy  in  sin,  and  impenitence. 
Now,  in  some  of  these  offences  the  tongue  77iust 
be  the  offending  member,  in  all  of  them  it  may 
be.  Let  this  thought  make  us  ever  more  and  more 
watchful  over  our  words,  and  more  and  more  careful 


116  ON    SINS    OF    THE    TONG-UE. 

ill  disciplining  those  heartS;  out  of  whose  abundance 
our  mouths  speak. 

This  was  the  point  which,  on  the  occasion  of 
wliich  we  are  speaking,  our  blessed  Lord  urged 
upon  the  Pharisees.  He  intimated  to  tliem  that 
there  was  utter  inconsistency  between  their  words 
and  actions  :  He  taught  them  that  language  such 
as  their's  could  only  be  the  index  of  a  thoroughly 
depraved  heart.  "Either,'^  said  He,  "make  the 
tree  good,  and  his  fruit  good,  or  else  make  the  tree 
corrupt,  and  his  fruit  corrupt :  for  the  tree  is  known 
by  his  fruit?'  In  vain,  that  is,  do  you  Pharisees 
pretend  to  holiness  of  heart,  while  with  your  mouths 
ye  speak  such  blasphemies ;  for  as  a  tree  is  known 
by  his  fruit,  so  a  man's  words  are  the  signs  of  the 
disposition  of  liis  heart.  Either,  therefore,  forbear 
blaspheming,  or  else  pretend  not  to  religion  at  all. 
And  yet,  "  0  generation  of  vipers,  how  can  ye,  being 
evil,  speak  good  things  ?"  Your  hearts  are  evil, 
and  "  out  of  the  abundance  of  the  heart  the  mouth 
speaketh.  A  good  man  out  of  the  good  treasure  of 
the  heart  bringeth  forth  good  things;  and  an  evil  man 
out  of  the  evil  treasure  of  his  heart  bringeth  forth 
evil  things."  And  more  than  this, — (it  is  thus  I 
would  venture  to  paraphrase  the  passage,)  not  a 
wt  /d  you  utter  falls  to  the  ground  unheeded.     No- 


ON    SINS    OF    THE    TONGUE.  117 

thing  spoken  by  man  is  a  matter  of  indijference. 
If  it  is  not  good,  it  is  evil.  Evil  words  shall  of 
course  be  punished ;  they  are  tokens  of  an  evil 
heart :  but  evil  words  are  not  the  only  things  for 
which  you  will  be  held  responsible,  for  "  I  say  unto 
you  that  every  idle  word  that  men  shall  speak,  they 
shall  give  account  thereof  in  the  day  of  judgment." 
By  your  words  as  well  as  by  your  actions  you  shall 
be  judged,  be  those  words  never  so  trivial  or  unim- 
portant: "  By  thy  words  thou  shalt  be  justified,  and 
by  thy  words  thou  shalt  be  condemned.'^ 

Such,  brethren,  were  the  arguments  addressed  by 
our  merciful  Lord  to  the  Pharisees  of  His  day,  and 
such  were  His  warnings ;  and  we  must  be  very 
presumptuous,  or  very  careless,  if  they  fail  to  awaken 
in  us  a  sense  of  the  dangers  into  which  we  are  liable 
to  fall,  unless,  like  the  Psalmist,  we  pray  the  Lord 
continually  to  "  set  a  watch  before  our  mouths,  and 
to  keep  the  door  of  our  lips." 

But  God  will  never  help  us,  where  we  do  not 
endeavour  to  help  ourselves.  His  strength  is  the 
remedy  of  our  weakness,  not  of  our  indolence.  And 
it  were  as  vain  to  expect  that  we  shall  be  preserved 
from  "offending  with  our  tongue,"  unless  we  avail 
ourselves  of  the  means  which  are  within  the  reach 
of  every  body,  for  keeping  our  mouths  as  it  were 
with  a  bridle  ;  as  it  would  be  to  expect  God  to  feed 
11 


118  ON   STNS    OP    THK    TONGUE. 

US  as  be  did  Elijah,  without  our  using  any  exertion 
of  our  own  to  procure  our  food. 

The  lesson  you  have  heard  to  day  may,  for  the 
time,  make  you  think  seriously  of  the  nature  of  sins 
of  the  tongue :  but  the  feeling  will  be  a  transient 
one,  and  you  will  return  to  your  former  carelessness, 
unless  you  take  active  measures  for  getting  the 
mastery  over  yourselves.  The  power  of  control 
does  not  come  of  itself:  it  is,  under  grace,  the  result 
of  a  confirmed  habit, — the  consequence  of  many 
petty  victories,  in  many  petty  conflicts. 

Now  these  incessant  struggles  with  our  natural 
inclinations  and  impulses,  in  matters  Avhich  seem  at 
the  moment  of  no  great  consequence,  are  among  the 
most  irksome  to  which  we  are  exposed  in  the  course 
of  our  spiritual  trial.  But  if  they  be  irksome,  they 
are  by  no  means  unimportant.  It  is  by  these  little 
matters,  and  our  behaviour  in  them,  that  our  sin- 
cerity is  tested ;  by  them  God  judges  whether  we  are 
in  earnest  in  our  professions,  whether  we  desire  to 
serve  Him  or  no.  He  knows  full  well  that  it  is 
often  a  sore  trial  for  us  not  to  render  railing  for  rail- 
ing: He  knows  what  pain  and  grief  it  is  for  us  to 
hold  our  tongues  and  speak  nothing  under  calumny, 
misrepresentation,  and  injustice.  He  knows  that 
the  liar,  the  swearer,  the  foul  and  filty  talker,  must 
all  have  great  and  continual  difficulties  in  the  task 


ON    SINS    OF    THE    TONGUE.  119 

of  reformation.  For  by  the  mouth  of  his  holy- 
Apostle  He  has  warned  us,  that  "  the  tongue  is  an 
unruly  evil,  full  of  deadly  poison  ;"  and  has  declared 
that  "  if  any  man  offend  not  in  word,  the  same  is  a 
perfect  man,  and  able  also  to  bridle  the  whole  body." 

But  our  heavenly  Father,  Who  knoweth  whereof 
we  are  made,  has  given  us  the  grace  of  the  Holy 
Ghost  to  aid  us  in  dilliculties  which  are  really  beyond 
our  power ;  and,  for  the  rest,  every  one  of  us  knows 
that,  to  a  great  extent,  he  can,  if  he  will,  preserve 
himself  from  the  sins  of  the  tongue  ;  and  that  care, 
and  prayer,  and  watchfulness,  and  a  determination 
to  think  of  what  we  are  about  to  say,  before  we 
begin  to  speak,  are  means  which  will  not  only  pre- 
serve us  from  more  flagrant  offences  of  the  lips,  but 
from  those  habits  of  "idle"  conversation  which  many 
think  so  venial,  but  which  are,  in  truth,  so  perilous. 

In  conclusion.  We  are  not  our  own,  we  have 
been  bought  with  a  price  ;  and,  therefore,  we  must 
glorify  God  in  our  bodies,  and  in  our  spirits,  which 
are  God's.  All  must  be  done  as  becometh  Chris- 
tians. Every  member  must  be  disciplined  into 
obedience  unto  the  head.  All  that  offends  must  be 
cut  off,  plucked  up,  rooted  out.  The  tongue  as  well 
as  the  eye,  the  hand,  and  the  foot,  must  do  the  will 
of  Him  Who  made  it.  Therefore,  brethren,  look  well 
to  yourselves  and  see,  luhat  are  those  things  you 


120  ON    SINS    OF    THE    TONGUE. 

chiefly  talk  about,  and  how  far  they  tend  to  edify- 
ing. 

I  do  not  tell  you  that  religious  subjects  are  to  be 
the  only  subjects  upon  which  earnest-minded  men 
will  speak.  There  is  a  religion  of  the  lips,  which  is 
very  different  from  the  religion  of  the  heart,  and 
which  is  oftentimes  the  mask  of  hypocrisy,  and 
oftener  still  the  nurse  of  spiritual  pride  and  self-de- 
ception. Rather,  I  would  say,  that  those  who  are 
most  religious  would  be  too  reverential  to  speak 
much  about  it  in  ordinary  conversation.  But  if 
called  upon  to  state  what  the  famihar  discourse 
of  Christians  ought  to  be,  I  would  point  out  some 
things  which  are  quite  indispensable,  and  describe 
it  generally  as  innocent,  harmless,  such  as  angels 
may  listen  to,  and  such  as  may  in  no  way  tend  to 
hinder  our  growth  in  grace. 

And  much  that  is  tolerated  in  the  common  con- 
verse of  society  is  none  of  these  things.  Do  you  ask 
me  what  I  mean  ?  I  reply,  that  my  meaning  is,  that 
neither  indelicacy,  nor  filth iness,  nor  foolish  talking, 
are  harmless,  or  innocent,  or  edifying.  I  mean,  that 
to  "  make  a  mock  at  sin,'^  or  retail  the  deeds  of  those 
who  commit  it,  is  not  harmless.  I  mean,  that  trifling 
and  frivolity,  are  not  harmless.  I  mean,  that  to  utter 
those  conventional  falsehoods  which  the  world  counts 
as  no  falsehood,  is  not  harmless,     I  mean,  that  to  tell 


ON    SINS    OF    THE    TONGUE.  121 

tales  and  anecdotes  of  scandal,  is  not  harmless.  I 
mean,  that  to  encourage  religious  dissention,  by  party 
language,  uncharitable  censures,  irritating  remarks,  is 
not  harmless.  I  mean  that  no  one  word  which  we 
utter,  is  harmless,  which  can  either  derogate  from 
God's  honour,  or  put  a  stumbling-block  in  the  way 
of  a  fellow-creature. 

Of  these  things  I  most  solemnly  warn  you,  as 
knowing  that  "  for  every  idle  word  ^'  which  you 
shall  here  speak,  you  shall  hereafter  be  judged. 
And  I  exhort  you  to  remember,  that  however  high 
may  be  your  advance  in  holiness  in  other  respects, 
however  high  your  professions,  if  you  give  way  to 
the  sins  of  the  tongue,  your  labour  will  be  all  in 
vain  :  that  if  you  offend  in  this  one  point,  you  shall 
be  held  guilty  of  all ;  that  though  you  had  all  faith 
so  that  you  could  remove  mountains,  and  had  not 
charity  (in  icord  as  well  as  deed)  it  would  profit 
you  nothing :  that  there  is  one  text  laid  down  in 
Scripture,  by  which  you  may  try  yourselves,  with 
the  certainty  that  you  cannot  be  misled  by  it :  and 
that  text  is  this :  "  If  any  man  among  you  seem  to 
be  religious,  and  hridleth  not  his  tongue,  but  de- 
ceiveth  his  own  heart,  this  man's  religion  is  vain.'^' 
11* 


SERxMON  VIII. 

CHRISTIAN      REVERENCE. 

} 

Malachi  i.  6. 

A  son  hononreth  his  father,  and  a  servant  his  master :  if  then  I 
be  a  Father,  where  is  Mine  honour  1  and  if  I  be  a  Master,  where 
is  My  fear  1  saith  the  Lord  of  Hosts. 

There  is  a  sin  which  is  so  common  among  us,— - 
and  which  is  so  bound  up  with  our  whole  tone  of 
thought  and  action, — which  pervades  the  people  of 
this  country,  high  and  low,  so  universally,  that  we 
have  almost  ceased  to  look  upon  it  as  a  sin.  Many 
of  us,  probably,  if  charged  with  it,  would  be  quite 
unconscious  of  having  been  guilty  of  it,  and  still  more 
of  us  would,  in  all  likelihood,  feel  themselves  injured 
if  it  was  hinted  to  them  that,  as  a  nation,  we  are 
altogether  defective  in  one  of  the  very  first  principles 
of  all  religion,  whether  true  or  false.  The  sin  to  which 
I  allude  is  that  of  Irreverence, — a  want  of  respect  for 
the  presence,  power,  and  majesty  of  God,  arising  from 
thoughtlessness  or  practical  unbelief. 


124  CHRISTIAN    REVERENCE. 

Now,  1  shall  not  deem  it  necessary  to  prove  to 
yon,  that  God  has  a  right  to  expect  from  us  the  full- 
est trihute  of  veneration  which  we  can  offer,  for  this 
truth  is  a  self-evident  one.  He  is  the  Creator ;  we 
are  the  creatnres :  He  is  the  Redeemer ;  we  are  they 
whom  He  has  purchased  to  himself:  He  is  the  Sanc- 
tifier ;  we  are  they  who  need  sanctification :  He  is 
Eternal,  Almighty,  Infinite  ;  we  are  mortal,  weak, 
finite :  He  is  all  light  and  goodness,  and  purity,  and 
truth ;  we  are  poor  miserable  sinners,  grovelling  on 
the  earth,  lying  in  darkness,  and  in  the  shadow  of 
death,  full  of  guilt  and  corruption,  and  unable,  by 
any  efforts  of  our  own,  to  guide  our  feet  into  the  way 
of  peace.  To  Plim  we  owe  everything  that  we  are, 
or  have,  or  hope  for,  and  therefore  to  Him  is  due  the 
acknowledgment  thereof.  As  His  mercy  claims  our 
love,  so  do  His  power  and  goodness  our  reverence. 

This  is  a  conclusion  at  which  we  must  have 
arrived,  if  we  had  only  the  light  of  nature,  as  it  is 
called,  to  direct  us ;  but  in  addition  to  this  kind  of 
witness  within  ourselves,  we  have  the  testimony  of 
Scripture  afforded  us  in  the  fullest  manner ;  so  much 
so,  indeed,  that  there  is,  perhaps,  no  one  duty  so  con- 
tinually enjoined  upon  us  in  the  sacred  volume  as 
this  of  reverence. 

The  very  *  beginning  of  wisdom,  we  are  taught, — 

*  Prov.  i.  7. 


CHRISTIAN    REVERENCE.  125 

its  foundation  as  well  as  its  superstructure, is  to  be  laid 
in  "  the  fear  of  the  Lord."  Him,  the  Psalmist  tells 
us,  we  must  *"  serve  with /tY/r,  and  rejoice  before 
Him  with  reverence."  t"  His  secret  is  with  them 
that  fear  Him," — "His  eye"  is  "  upon  them  ,"  His 
*^ Angel  encampeth  round  about  them,  and  deUvereth 
them,"  His  J" blessing,"  His  "salvation,"  and  His 
"  mercy,"  are  "  with  them  that  fear  Him  from  gene- 
ration to  generation.'^  And,  therefore,  it  is,  that  the 
Apostle  tells  us,  to  ^"perfect  holiness  in  the  fear  of 
God," — to  "  work  out  our  own  salvation  with  fear 
and  trembling," — to  "pass  the  time  of  our  sojourning 
here  in  fear," — and  to  "serve  God  acceptably  with 
reverence  and  godly  fear,  for  our  God  is  a  consuming 
fire." 

But  it  is  needless  to  multiply  quotations.  As  Chris- 
tians we  believe,  or  at  least  profess  to  believe,  that  in 
order  to  serve  God  acceptably,  we  must  serve  Him 
"  with  reverence  and  godly  fear,"  and  this  is  the  point 
on  Avhich  I  am  prepared  to  maintain  that  we  are 
lamentably  defective,  so  much  so,  that  the  reproof 
addressed  to  Israel  in  the  days  of  Malachi,  may,  with 
as  great,  or  even  greater,  appropriateness  be  applied 

*  Psalm  ii.  11. 

f  Psalm  XXV.  14;  xxxiii.  18;  xxxiv.  7. 

+  Psalm  cxii.  1  ;  Ixxxv.  9 ;  Luke  i.  50. 

§  2  Cor.  vii.  1  -,  Phil.  ii.  12;  1  Peter  i.  17;  Heb.  xxii.  38. 


126  CHRISTIAN    REVERENCE. 

to  ourselves.  "  A  son  honoureth  his  father,  and  a 
servant  his  master  :  if  I  then  be  a  father,  where  is 
Mine  honour  ?  and  if  I  be  a  master,  where  is  My 
fear  ?  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts."  The  censure  was  in 
the  first  instance  apphed  to  the  Priests,  who  had  ren- 
dered "  the  table  of  the  Lord  contemptible,"  and 
dishonoured  His  altars.  They  seem  to  have  thought 
anything  good  enough  for  Him,  and  His  service. 
His  house  lay  desolate,  while  their  own  were  ceiled 
with  cedar,  and  painted  with  vermilion.  Their  tables 
were  covered  with  luxuries,  they  ate  the  fat  and  drunk 
the  sweet,  while  upon  His  altars  they  offered  polluted 
victims,  cheap  and  refuse,  to  Him  they  "  brought  that 
which  was  torn,  the  lame  and  the  sick."  Under  such 
disgraceful  circumstances,  well  might  it  be  asked  by 
the  oifended  Majesty  of  Heaven ;  "  If  I  be  a  Father, 
where  is  Mine  honour  ?  and  if  I  be  a  master,  where 
is  My  fear?"  As  a  Father,  His  children  had  shown 
Him  no  love ;  as  a  master  and  Lord,  the  tribute  of 
their  reverence  had  been  withholden  from  Him. 

But,  brethren,  in  our  own  case,  that  w^hich  was 
the  sin  of  the  priests,  has  ceased  to  be  confined  to  the 
priests  alone.  As  it  was  with  the  priests,  so  is  it  now 
with  the  people,  or,  perhaps,  so  is  it  with  all.  We 
do  not  deny  that  God  is  our  Father  and  Master.  Far 
otherwise.  With  our  lips  we  readily  acknowledge 
Him,  but  our  hearts  are  far  from  Him.     We  do  not 


CHRISTIAN  revert:nce.  127 

consider  tlie  force  of  our  words,  wlien  we  confess 
Him,  or  what  they  involve.     We  speak  of  Him  as 
our   Father   and   Master,  but   we  tacitly  persuade 
ourselves  that  in  His  case  the  paternal  and  domestic 
relation  is  something  different  from  what  it  is  among 
ourselves ;  that  we  are  not  His  servants  and  children, 
in  the  same  sense  as  we  are  with  regard  to  such  of 
our  fellow-creatures  as  hold  such  a  connexion  with 
us.     And  in  one  respect  we  are  not,  for  in  addition  to 
all  that  the  most  affectionate  child   and  devoted  ser- 
vant can  pay,  God  has  this  further  claim  upon  us, 
that  He  is  our  God.     But  this  is  a  consideration  from 
which  we  shrink,  and  so  endeavour  to  persuade  our-  . 
selves  that  his  Godhead  rather  diminishes  than  en- 
hances His  claims  upon  us  on  other  grounds.     We 
give  Him  the  cold  acknowledgment  that  we  believe 
in  Him  as  our  God :  but  do  not  attempt  to  realize 
-and  exhibit   that   fervour  of   love   and   reverence, 
which  we  should  exhibit  towards  an  adored  parent 
or  master.     We  have  little  of  that  ever-present  awe 
which  would  not  fail  to  affect  us  if  we  habituated 
ourselves  to  think  of  Him  as  He  really  is. 

To  exemplify  what  I  mean  by  a  parallel  instance 
among  ourselves,  to  that  which  formed  the  subject  of 
one  of  the  prophet  Malachi's  reproofs.  Irreverence 
was  shown  in  his  day  by  the  character  of  the  offerings 
made  to  God.     Instead  of  bringing  the  firstlings  of 


128  CHRISTIAN    REVERENCE. 

the  flock,— the  best  and  most  perfect,  the  men  of  that 
day  thought  it  sufficient  to  sacrifice  what  was  torn 
and  crippled,  what  was  cheap  and  paUry,  and  would 
be  of  no  value  in  the  market.  They  offered  to  God 
of  that  which  cost  them  nothing.  Now,  we  have  no 
temptation  to  commit  precisely  the  same  kind  of  sin, 
but  in  the  nearest  approximation  to  it  of  w^iich  our 
circumstances  admit,  we  are  just  as  guilty  as  the 
house  of  Israel.  Look  at  the  state  of  our  Churches ; 
their  decay,  their  dirt,  their  damp,  their  sordid  neglect ; 
hear  the  grudging,  niggardly  words  of  those  who  are 
called  upon  to  repair  them :  examine  the  spirit  in 
which  those  repairs  are  carried  on.  I  do  not  mean 
that  there  are  not  praiseworthy  exceptions;  but 
viewing  the  case  generally,  must  it  not  be  owned 
that  there  are  very  few  places  in  which  cheapness 
has  not  been  the  first  consideration  in  church-repairs  ? 
Well,  therefore,  may  God  demand  of  us,  the  richest 
as  well  as  the  most  covetous  people  on  earth,  ^'  If  I 
be  a  father,  where  is  Mine  honour  ?  and  if  I  be  a 
master,  where  is  my  fear?"  It  is  true  that  God 
dwelleth  not  in  temples  made  with  hands;  and  the 
most  glorious  pile  that  man  could  erect  would  be  all 
unworthy  of  Him ;  but  so  it  was  true,  likewise,  of 
old  time,  that  He  needed  not  the  offerings  of  Israel. 
^'  All  the  beasts  of  the  forests  are  Mine  :  and  so  are 
the  cattle  upon  a  thousand  hills.     If  I  be  liungry,  I 


CHRISTIAN    REVERENCE.  129 

will  nol  tell  thee :  for  the  whole  world  is  JNliiie,  and 
all  that  is  therein."  Yet  as,  in  the  one  case,  He  de- 
clared that  the  paltriness  of  the  offerings  had  polluted 
His  altars,  and  made  His  table  contemptible,  so,  on 
the  other,  we  may  not  doubt  that  for  us  Churchmen  to 
permit  our  churches  to  continue  in  their  present  con- 
dition, is  an  offence  no  less  heinous  in  His  sight.  It 
is  a  proof  that  we  do  not  care  to  honour  Him,  an 
evidence  that  we  do  not  fear  Him,  a  certain  token  of 
irreverence. 

But  it  may  be  said  that  an  excuse  for  the  state  of 
our  churches  may  be  found  in  the  local  circumstances 
of  particular  parishes,  and  that  at  any  rate,  so  as  our 
hearts  be  right,  it  matters  little  under  what  external 
circumstances  we  worship.  The  Israeli»s  might 
have  ojffered  a  similar  plea. 

But  admitting  the  fact  for  argument's  sake,  let  us 
take  this  view  of  the  subject,  and  examine  whether 
our  hearts  are  right,  and  whether  we  have  as  much 
reverence  for  God's  presence  in  His  house  as  we 
ought  to  have.  I  know  no  passage  of  Scripture 
which  tells  me  that  God  withdraws  Himself  from 
His  consecrated  dwellings,  when  the  service  of  prayer 
has  ceased  :  rather,  1  infer,  that  they  are  "  a  settled 
place  for  Him  to  abide  in  for  ever."  But  even  were 
this  not  so,  were  God  only  in  His  church  occasion- 
ally, surely,  a  spot  which  He  from  time  to  time  visits 
12 


130  CHRISTIAN    REVERENCE. 

with  His  presence  is  holy  ground.  And  yet,  how  do 
we  use  it  ?  If  a  church  be  entered  when  no  service 
is  being  performed,  are  there  many  wlio  have  much 
scruple  in  treating  it  as  if  it  were  an  ordinary  room  ? 
Do  they  not  talk  loud,  and  carelessly,  as  if  there  were 
nothing  sacred  in  it  ?  If  curioshy  leads  them  there, 
will  they  not  be  prying  about,  and  criticising,  perhaps, 
within  the  precint  of  our  Holy  of  holies,  the  Lord's 
table?  If  a  parish  meeting  is  to  be  held,  will  not  the 
church,  in  some  places,  be  the  scene  of  brawling  and 
mutual  recriminations  between  persons  who  are 
opposed  to  one  another  elsewhere  ?  If  church-repairs 
be  going  on,  will  not  the  workmen  be  usually  found 
with  their  hats  on,  as  if  there  were  no  peculiar 
sanctity  in  the  scene  of  their  labours  ?  Now,  would 
not  such  instances  as  these,  (and  I  might  mention 
many  more  such,  and  far  more  painful  ones,  that 
have  come  within  my  own  experience)  go  far  to 
show  that  the  spirit  of  reverence  must  be  at  a  very 
low  ebb  among  us  ?  They  indeed  who  do  such  things, 
do  them  without  any  intention  of  offending  God. 
They  do  not  think  about  Him  :  but  this  is  their  sin. 

And  now  to  go  a  step  further.  Is  there  any  diffi- 
culty in  tracing  the  same  frightful  spirit  of  irreverence 
in  congregations  of  Christian  men  assembled  for 
public  worship  ?  If  we  believe  anything  that  God 
tells  us,  we  must  believe  this,  that  where  two  or  three 


CHRISTIAN    REVERENCE.  131 

are  gathered  together  m  His  name  He  is  in  the  midst 
of  them.     And  surely,  if  we  at  all  realized  this  truth, 
we  should   have  some  awe  of  coming   into  God's 
presence,  especially,  as  we  come   there  to  confess 
ourselves  miserable  sinners,  who  have  need  of  par- 
don.    But  what  is  the  sight  which  obtrudes   itself 
upon  our  notice  almost  every  Sunday  ?     Are  there 
not  those  who  seem  to  study  nothing  but  their  own 
convenience,  as  to  the  time  when  they  shall  reach 
church  ;  and  who  think  it  no  disgrace  to  themselves, 
nor  interruption  to  the  congregation,  that  they  come 
in  late,  Sunday  after  Sunday,  and  who  thus  venture 
to  join  in  acts  of  prayer  and  praise  without  having 
first  confessed  their  sins  ?  Is  it  anything  unusual  to 
find  persons  who  will  not  give  themselves  the  trouble 
to  join  in  a  single  response  from  one  end  of  the  service 
to  the  other  ?  Is  it  a  thing   unheard  of,  that   there 
should  be  whispering  and  talking  in  God's  house  ? 
Are  persons  never  to  be  seen,  whose  habit  it  is  to  be 
staring  about  them,  instead  of  attending,  or  laughing 
with  one  another  (I  almost  tremble  to  speak  of  it), 
when  they  ought  to  be  praying  God  to  save  them 
from  hell-fire  ?  Are  there  none  who  are  too  idle  to 
stand  or  kneel,  as  the  Church  directs   them  ?    And 
even  where  outward  behaviour  is  decent,  are  there 
none  of  us  who  join  in  the  prayers  without  attending 
to  them;  and  so  make  them  a  mockery  ?  Are  there 


132  CHRISTIAN    REVERENCE. 

none  (and  this  is  a  most  awful  consideration)  who 
even  approach  the  Lord's  Table  without  at  all 
realizing  to  themselves  that  there  the  Body  and  Blood 
of  Christ  are  verily  and  indeed  taken  and  received 
by  the  faithful  ?  And  who  thereby  become  partakers 
of  the  sin  of  Israel  in  its  most  aggravated  form,  by 
making  "  the  table  of  the  Lord  contemptible." 

Now  I  appeal  to  your  hearts  and  consciences  when 
I  ask,  would  any  one  of  these  things  be  done,  if  there 
were  that  deep  spirit  of  reverence  and  godly  fear 
among  us,  wherewith  the  Almighty  can  alone  be 
acceptably  served  ? 

But  it  is  not  in  God^s  house  only  that  we  show  our 
indifference  to  Him.  The  manner  in  which  we 
treat  His  Name,  His  Day,  His  Word,  His  Ministers, 
as  well  as  His  Sacraments  and  Worship,  all  is  so 
much  evidence  against  us  that  we  have  not  that 
abiding  awe  of  Him  which  is  due  to  Him.  We 
receive  the  Bible  as  His  Word,  and  we  read  it,  but 
then,  how  do  we  read  it  ?  Some  of  us  rarely,  many 
of  us  as  a  mere  task.  We  read  the  words,  but  do 
not  study  them,  or  try  to  get  an  insight  into  their 
meaning.  We  do  not  even  try  to  realize  the  threaten- 
ings  or  the  promises  of  Scripture.  We  do  not  con- 
sider Whose  Word  it  is.  If  we  did,  we  should  not 
argue  about  it,  or  talk  confidently  of  understanding 
it,  or  speculate  rashly  upon  its  mysteries.    Least  of 


CHRISTIAN    REVERENCE.  133 

all  should  we  be  quarrelsome  and  contentious  about 
it,  but  humble,  and  diffident,  and  docile,  and  thankful. 

Again,  look  at  His  Name,  and  Day,  and  ask  your- 
selves how  far  you  give  them  the  reverence  that  is 
due  to  them?  I  will  take  for  granted,  that  no  one  of 
you  is  a  profane  swearer,  for  of  all  irreverent  acts, 
that  is  the  most  irreverent.  No  one  who  is  guilty  of 
it  can  pretend  to  the  name  of  Christian  :  it  is  a  sin 
which  goes  as  far  as  any  to  forfeit  baptismal  grace  : 
it  is  a  sin  for  which,  if  there  be  any  truth  in  the  Word 
of  God,  hell-fire  is  prepared.  But  if  you  be  no 
swearers  yourselves,  do  you  allow  an  oath  in  others? 
do  you  hear  it,  and  let  it  go  by  unreproved  ?  Why, 
if  you  had  any  adequate  reverence  for  God,  you 
would  withdraw  from  the  swearer's  company  as 
from  one  infected  with  the  plague,  as  dreading  lest 
the  earth  should  open  and  swallow  him  up  quick,  or 
the  roof  should  fall  down  and  crush  him.  For  whose 
name  is  it  that  he  takes  in  vain  ?  Is  it  not  that  of  the 
High  and  Lofty  One,  that  inhabiteth  Eternity,  Whose 
Name  is  Holy,  the  King  Immortal,  Invisible,  Whom. 
no  man  can  see  and  live  ?  Can  audacity  and  pre- 
sumption go  further  than  using  that  Name  lightly  ? 

So  again,  we  ourselves  hallow  God's  Sabbath's  up 

to  a  certain  point.     We  attend  Church,  and  observe  a 

certain  gravity  and  restraint  in  our  words  and  actions 

for  the  remainder  of  the  day.     But  what  a  service  is 

12* 


134  CHRISTIAN    REVERENCE. 

this  !  how  poor,  how  feeble,  how  cold  !  Surely,  if 
there  was  anything  like  a  real  reverence  for  the  Lord 
our  God  among  us,  we  should  serve  Him  with  fear, 
and  rejoice  with  trembling,  after  a  very  different 
fashion  from  that  in  which  we  now  observe  His  day. 
Our  ivorship  then  would  bear  some  resemblance  to 
the  worship  of  heaven ;  our  rest  would  have  in  it 
some  foretaste  of  that  "  rest  which  remaineth  to  the 
people  of  God." 

Look  once  more  to  the  evidence  which  our  treat- 
ment of  the  Church  and  her  Ministers  aflbrds  of  the 
irreverential  spirit  which  has  spread  among  us,  and 
eats  us  up  like  a  canker.  If  we  did  more  than/>ro- 
fessed  to  stand  in  awe  of  God,  should  we  adopt  the 
coarse,  bad  habits  of  the  world,  in  its  way  of  thinking 
and  speaking  about  both  ?  Should  we,  with  respect 
to  our  Ministers,  allow  ourselves  to  tliink  more  of 
the  faults,  and  follies,  and  foibles  of  the  man,  than  of 
his  office  in  the  Church  of  God  ?  Should  we  forget 
that  he,  albeit  unworthy,  is  the  earthly  representative 
of  Christ  to  us, — that  he  hath  received  the  power  of 
binding  and  loosing,  and  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost 
for  his  Priestly  office,  by  the  imposition  of  hands, — 
that  he  alone  has  authority  to  administer  the  Sacra- 
ments, and  to  ofier  up  prayers  for  the  congregation, — 
and  that  of  him  the  Saviour  hath  declared,  "He  that 
heareth  you,  heareth  Me  5  and  he  that  despiseth  you, 


CHRISTIAN    REVERENCE.  135 

despiseth  Me  ;  and  he  that  despiseth  Me,  despiseth 
Him  that  sent  Me?" 

And  so  with  regard  to  the  Church,  that  Holy 
Communion  of  Saints,  of  which  we  are  members;  if 
the  spirit  of  reverence  were  within  us,  instead  of 
viewing  it  hke  a  mere  human  thing,  for  rude  fingers 
to  touch,  and  unchastened  tongues  to  speak  about, 
we  should  contemplate  it,  as  indeed  it  is,  the  awful 
fabric,  raised  by  those  Hands,  Which  the  nails 
pierced ;  cemented  together  by  Blood  Which  issued 
from  the  Wounded  Side ;  His  dwelling-place  ;  the 
token  of  His  presence;  One,  Holy,  Catholic;  the 
haven  of  the  broken-hearted,  the  heritage  of  the 
faithful,  the  home  of  Saints. 

Lastly — (and  so  deeply  imbued  are  we  with  the 
spirit  of  irreverence,  that  I  almost  dread  to  dwell  on 
the  topic,  lest  I  should  subject  it  to  profane  discussion) 
what  shall  be  said  of  the  manner  in  which  we  treat 
the  Sacraments  ?  Are  there  not  some  who  would  cast 
aside  the  thought  of  their  pre  eminent  sanctity,  and 
lower  them  into  mere  signs  and  memorials?  Are 
there  not  those  who,  in  the  face  of  Scripture  and  the 
Church,  deny  that  the  Holy  Spirit  is  vouchsafed  to 
the  faithful  in  one,  and  the  Lord  Christ  Himself,  His 
body,  and  His  blood,  received  in  a  spiritual  manner 
in  the  other?  And,  is  not  the  result  of  this,  that  men 
think  lightly  of  the  infringement  of  their  baptismal 


136  CHRISTIAN    REVERENCE. 

V0WS5  and  turn  their  backs  upon  the  Holy  Eucharist, 
or  partake  of  it  as  if  it  were  scarce  different  from  a 
common  meal  ?  Once  more  I  ask,  could  such  things 
be,  if  we  at  all  realized  to  ourselves,  that,  in  order  to 
serve  God  acceptably,  we  must  serve  Him  "  with 
reverence,"  and  pass  the  timeof  our  sojourning  here 
"  in  fear  ?"  "  A  son  honoureth  his  father,  and  a  ser- 
vant his  master :  if  then  I  be  a  Father,  where  is  Mine 
honour  ?  if  I  be  a  Master,  where  is  My  fear  ?  saith 
the  Lord  of  hosts.'' 

From  what  causes  such  a  spirit  of  irreverence  has 
grown,  and  spread  till  it  has  taken  possession  of  us; 
in  what  was  its  origin ;  and  how  it  has  been  fostered, 
I  cannot  now  stop  to  express  an  opinion,  though 
these  are  matters  which  are  very  full  of  interest,  and 
of  warning. 

The  fact  itself  is  before  us,  and  the  bitter  fruits  of 
our  profaneness  and  irreverence  are  ripening  day  by 
day.  What,  if  the  time  of  in-gathering  be  at  liand, 
when  irreverence  shall  have  passed  into  professed 
unbelief?  "  When  the  Son  of  Man  cometh,  shall  Hg 
find  faith  in  the  earth  ?" 

I  do  not  say  that  our  national  and  individual  irreve- 
rence will  end  in  open  apostacy ;  but  the  tendency 
is,  of  course,  that  way;  and  we  are  in  the  greater 
peril,  because  the  infection  has  spread  both  silently 
and  universally.     We  go  down  lowerand  lower,  with- 


CHRISTIAN    REVERENCE.  137 

out  suspecting  where  we  are.  We  have,  as  it  were, 
destroyed  our  landmarks :  we  have  left  ourselves  no 
standard  wherewith  to  try  whetlier  we  are  irreverent 
or  no  ; — I  mean  no  such  standard  as  may  attract  and 
rivet  the  attention  of  the  careless  and  thoughtless, — 
that  is  of  the  majority  of  us. 

What  then  must  be  done  ?  We  cannot,  any  of  us 
singly,  bring  back  the  reverence  of  a  better  day,  but 
each,  in  his  own  person,  may  train  and  cultivate  that 
spirit  of  holy  fear,  without  which  God  cannot  be 
served  acceptably.  Therefore,  let  each  among  us 
endeavour  to  realise  to  himself,  more  fully  than  he 
has  yet  done,  the  Presence  of  God  among  us.  He  is 
present  in  His  Church,  in  His  Sacraments,  in  His 
Ministers,  in  His  Poor:  present  among  us  every  where, 
and  at  all  seasons;  in  the  works  of  nature,  and 
revolutions  of  providence ;  in  the  still  small  voice, 
and  in  the  temple  within  us.  We  must  bring  this 
thought  home  to  our  hearts,  and  awe  and  reverence 
will  accompany  it.  We  must  learn  how  the  Church, 
and  the  Prayer-book  teach  us  to  show  reverence ; 
and  we  must  walk  by  that  rule.  We  must  watch 
ourselves  in  little  things,  and  reflect  continually  before 
Whom  they  are  done.  We  must  be  very  careful 
what  we  do  or  say  before  our  children,  or  our 
servants,  lest  they  should  encourage  themselves  in 
profaneness,  by  any  act  of  our's.     AVe  must  avoid 


138  CHRISTIAN    REVERENCE. 

speaking  of  religious  subjects  before  those  who  are 
Hkely  to  ridicule  them.  And  yet,  we  must  never  be 
ashamed  of  appearing  religious :  we  must  never 
dread  being  laughed  at  for  obeying  God's  law.  We 
must  avoid,  as  much  as  possible,  speaking  of  the 
religious  disputes  of  the  day.  Nothing  encourages 
hard-heartedness  and  profaneness  more  than  a  love  of 
controversy.  We  must  endeavour,  quietly  and  hum- 
bly, to  raise  the  standard  of  religious  feeling  among 
those  with  whom  we  live.  And,  above  all  things  we 
must  keep  watch  over  the  example  we  are  setting, 
and  the  state  of  our  own  minds,  and  the  manner 
in  which  we  habituate  ourselves  to  think  of  God. 
Strange  and  ungrateful  would  it  be,  if  His  mercies  in 
Christ  Jesus  were  not  the  foremost  subject  of  our 
contemplations  :  if  we  did  not  love  Him  as  the  God 
of  all  comfort.  Who  is  full  of  tender  compassion,  Who 
remembereth  whereof  we  are  made,  and  pitieth  us 
as  a  father  doth  his  children. 

But,  as  a  Father,  we  must  pay  Him  the  honour  that 
is  due ;  and  we  must  not  forget  that  He  is  a  Master 
as  well  as  a  P'ather,  and  that,  therefore.  He  claims 
our  fear  as  well  as  our  love.  He  calls  us  to  Him 
lovingly,  but  His  calls  are  not  to  be  trifled  with.  He 
speaks  to  us  with  gentle  accents,  but  wo  be  to  us  if 
we  refuse  or  think  lightly  of  Him  that  speaketh  ;  "for 
if  they  escaped  not  who  refused  Him  that  spake  on 


CHRISTIAN    REVFRENCr.  139 

earth,  much  more  shall  not  we  escape,  if  we  turn 
away  from  Him  that  speaketh  from  heaven  !"  He 
has  given  us  promises,  privileges,  and  made  us 
inheritors  of  His  kingdom  ;  but  it  were  better  for  us 
that  we  had  never  been  born,  than  that  we  should 
treat  any  of  them  irreverently. 

"  Wherefore,  we  receiving  a  kingdom  which  cannot 
be  moved,  let  us  have  grace,  whereby  we  may  serve 
God  acceptably,  with  reverence  and  godly  fear.  For 
our  God  is  a  consuming  fire. 


SERMON  IX, 

CHRISTIAN     RESOLUTIOPf. 

Luke  ix.  G2. 

And  Jesus  said  unto  him,  No  man  having  put  his  hand  to  the 
plough,  and  looking  back,  is  fit  for  the  kingdom  of  God. 

It  seems  to  have  been  the  usual  custom  of  our 
gracious  and  merciful  Lord,  both  to  point  out  to 
those  who  seemed  inclined  to  become  His  disciples, 
that,  in  embracing  the  Gospel,  they  would  expose 
themselves  to  a  trial  of  no  ordinary  severity,  and  also 
to  afford  them  some  opportunity  of  testing  the  sin- 
cerity of  their  motives. 

It  was  with  the  first  object  in  view,  that  His 
chosen  followers  were  again  and  again  admonished, 
that  they  should  be  "delivered  up  to  councils,  and 
scourged  in  the  synagogues,"  "cast  into  prisons,  and 
brought  before  rulers  and  kings  ;"  that  some  of  them 
should  be  "  persecuted,"  "afflicted,"  and  "killed," 
— and  that  they  should  be  "  hated  of  all  nations  for 
13 


142  OHRTSTTAN    RESOLTTTIOIVo 

His  names'  sake."  The  bigh-wrouglit  expectations; 
and  brilliant  day-dreams  of  the  temporal  glories  of 
Messiah's  kingdom  were  annihilated  at  once  ;  they 
were  taught  that  His  kingdom  was  not  of  this  world  j 
and  that  was  inculcated  upon  them  from  the  first 
which  their  after-experience  so  abundantly  verified, 
that  houses  and  lands,  friends  and  kindred,  must  be 
resigned  when  they  became  His  disciples, — that  all 
that  lived  godly  in  Christ  Jesus  must  suffer  persecu- 
tion,— that  if  in  this  life  only  they  had  hope  in  Christ, 
they  would  be  of  all  men,  the  most  miserable. 

But,  besides  these  kinds  of  warnings,  the  ^Re- 
deemer took  a  further  step  to  bring  home  to  the 
minds  of  His  followers  that  of  them  much  would  be 
required  :  He  put  them  in  the  way  of  trying  what 
manner  of  men  they  were,  and  how  they  really  stood 
affected  towards  Him.  Some,  therefore,  who  ap- 
proached Him  most  eagerly.  He,  for  a  while,  re- 
pelled ;  of  others.  He  required  the  sacrifice  of  that 
one  thing  which  was  dearer  to  them  than  a  right 
hand,  or  a  right  eye  ;  to  others,  who  are  inclined  to 
be  offended  in  Him,  He  spake  some  yet  harder 
saying,  which  caused  them  to  turn  away,  and  others 
who  loved  Him,  to  cling  to  Him  more  closely. 

It  was,  when  He  had  predicted  His  future  Ascen- 
sion, and  His  knowledge  of  the  unbelief  of  some  of 
His  followers,  that  "many  of  His  disciples  went 


CHRISTIAN    RESOLUTION.  143 

back,  and  walked  no  more  with  Him  ;"  but  it  was 
that  very  secession  which  called  forth  the  glorious 
acknowledgment  of  St.  Peter,  on  which  the  Church 
is  founded.  "  Thou  hast  the  words  of  eternal  life. 
And  we  believe,  and  are  sure,  that  Thou  art  that 
Christ,  the  Son  of  the  living  God." 

The  young  Ruler,  who  had  great  possessions,  and 
knew  not  that  he  loved  them  better  than  he  did  a 
heavenly  treasure,  was  tried  in  the  point  wherein  he 
was  weakest.  In  that  trial  he  failed,  but  the  event 
which  resulted  from  it  was,  that  thereupon  the  Lord 
made  His  promise  to  those  who  forsook  all  and  fol- 
lowed Him,  that  even  in  this  world  they  should 
receive  "  an  hundred  fold,  and  in  the  world  to  come, 
life  everlasting." 

The  Syro-phenician  was  treated  at  first  as  though, 
in  consequence  of  her  being  a  Gentile,  no  miracle  of 
mercy  could  be  performed  on  her  daughter  ;  but  the 
apparent  repulse  was  only  intended  to  test  her  sin- 
cerity, and  so  the  end  was  not  only  that  the  devil 
was  cast  out,  but  her  marvellous  faith  is  spoken  of 
in  all  the  world,  and  is  the  example  and  comfort  of 
all  who  are  named  by  the  name  of  Christ  to  this 
day. 

Thus  it  was,  that  from  time  to  time,  as  fitting  oc- 
casion and  opportunity  oifered,  our  blessed  Lord 
instructed  his  first  adherents  to  consider  well  the  step 


144  CHRISTIAN    RESOLUTION. 

they  were  going  to  take,  and  to  examine  into  the 
truth  of  their  professions,  intimating  that  though 
there  was  danger  every  way,  the  greatest  danger 
lay  in  the  path  of  those  who  involved  themselves 
in  heavy  responsibilities,  without  considering  and 
ascertaining  the  nature  of  the  burden  which  they 
proposed  to  them  to  carry.  "  For  which  of  you," 
said  He,  "  intending  to  build  a  tower,  sitteth  not 
down  first,  and  counteth  the  cost,  whether  he  have 
sufficient  to  finish  it  ?  Lest,  haply,  after  he  hath  laid 
the  foundation,  and  is  not  able  to  finish  it,  all  that 
behold  it  begin  to  mock  him,  saying,  This  man  began 
to  build,  and  was  not  able  to  finish." 

And  now  to  proceed  to  a  more  immediate  con- 
sideration of  that  passage  of  Scripture  which  stands 
at  the  head  of  this  discourse.  The  text  is,  as  it 
were,  the  climax  of  three  replies,  made  by  our 
adorable  Redeemer  to  as  many  persons,  who  in 
different  states  of  mind,  proposed  to  become  His 
disciples.  "  It  came  to  pass,"  writes  the  Evangelist, 
*'  that  as  they  went  in  the  way,  a  certain  man  said 
unto  Him,  Master,  I  will  folloAV  Thee  whithersoever 
Thou  goest.  And  Jesus  said  unto  him,  Foxes  have 
holes,  and  birds  of  the  air  have  nests  ;  but  the  Son  of 
Man  hath  not  where  to  lay  His  head.  Here  we  have 
a  person,  (in  the  parallel  passage  of  St.  Matthew,  it 
appears  that  he  was  a  scribe  or  doctor  of  the  law,) 


CHRISTIAN    RESOLUTION.  145 

who,  not  having  as  yet  given  any  proof  of  his  sin- 
cerity^, nevertheless,  expresses  his  readiness  to  address 
our  Lord  as  "  Master,"  and  to  follow  Him  whither- 
soever He  sliould  go.  Perhaps,  he  imagined  that 
Jesus  would  shortly  come  to  great  power  and  glory, 
— perhaps,  as  one  of  the  Fathers  suggests,  he  sous:ht 
to  follow  the  Lord,  because  of  His  great  miracles, 
for  the  sake  of  the  gain  to  be  derived  from  them,  as 
Simon  Magus  did,  when  he  would  have  given  St. 
Peter  money :  and  so  our  Lord  shows  him  what  tlie 
cost  of  following  Him  would  be, — that  it  would  lead 
to  no  accession  of  worldly  fortune,  but  to  a  sharing 
in  the  privations  of  One  Who  had  neither  lodging 
nor  home  of  His  own.  However,  this  Scribe  was 
not  sent  away;  but  He  Who  knew  what  was  in 
man,  so  spake  as  to  convict  him  of  his  evil  intentions, 
at  the  same  time  permitting  him,  if  he  would,  to  be- 
come a  disciple  of  the  cross,  with  the  expectation  of 
poverty. 

Pass  we  now  to  the  next  case.  "And"  Jesus 
<^said  unto  another.  Follow  me.  But  he  said,  Lord, 
suifer  me  first  to  go  and  bury  my  father.  Jesus  said 
unto  him.  Let  the  dead  bury  their  dead  :  but  go  thou 
and  preach  the  kingdom  of  God."  The  former 
instance  was  that  of  a  stranger;  the  present  is  that  of 
one  who  already  followed  Jesus,  and  was  His  disci- 
ple. The  former  called  Him  Master :  the  other  cou- 
13* 


116  CHRISTIAN    RESOLUTION. 

fesses  Him  as  his  Lord.  The  disciple  does  not  ask 
whether  he  shall  follow  Him,  for  he  already  believed 
that  he  onght  to  do  so,  but  he  pra3^s  to  be  suffered 
first  to  bury  his  father :  the  other  offers  to  follow,  not 
really  seeking  a  master,  but  by  means  of  his  master 
seeking  gain  for  himself  In  the  latter  case,  the  spirit 
exhibited  seems  to  have  been  altogether  of  the  earth, 
earthy:  in  the  latter,  there  was  only  that  tinge  of 
earthliness  in  which  natural  affection  still  struggles 
for  the  mastery  over  duty.  The  disciple,  whoever 
he  was  (perhaps  a  son  of  Zebidee*),  had  a  parent  on 
his  dying  bed,t  to  whom  he  felt  that  his  first  care 
was  due.  When  the  days  of  mom'ning  for  his  father 
should  be  ended,  then  he  was  ready  to  devote  himself 
to  the  service  of  the  Gospel.  But  into  that  service  he 
had  already  entered ;  to  that  he  was  pledged ;  a  dis- 
pensation had  been  committed  unto  him,  and  he  was 
now  to  learn  that  henceforward  neither  his  will  nor 
his  actions  were  in  his  own  power.  "Jesus  said 
unto  him,  Let  the  dead  bury  their  dead,  but  go  thou 
and  preach  the  kingdom  of  God."    You,  that  is,  when 

*  Compare  Matt.  iv.  21 ;  viii  21 ;  xx.  20.  And  see  Blunt  (J.  J.) 
on  the  Veracity  of  the  Evangelists,  p.  13. 

f  It  seems  probable  that  the  disciple's  father  was  not  actually- 
defunct  :  "  nam  apud  Judceos  morlui  sepeliebantur  eodem  die,  quo 
obierant— Acts,  v.  7— 10;  Matt.  ix.  23."  (RosenmuUer  in  Matt, 
viii.)  His  wish  seems  to  have  been  to  return  home,  and  stay  there 
till  his  father's  death,  and  then  to  return  to  Christ. 


CHRISTIAN    RESOLUTION.  147 

ye  became  a  preacher  of  righteousness,  were  severed 
by  that  very  act  from  all  your  earthly  fortunes  and 
relations:  to  return  to  them  again  would  be  to  forfeit 
your  present  position.  No  ;  do  you  follow  me  ;  and 
leave  the  discharge  of  that  which  else  would  have 
been  your  natural  office,  to  others.  On  you  a  higher 
duty  has  devolved ;  and  if  you  fail  to  discharge  it 
7WW,  the  opportunity  will  pass  away  for  ever. 

The  last  lesson  given  on  this  momentous  subject  is 
the  incident  recorded  in  the  text.  "Another  also 
said,  Lord,  I  will  follow  Thee ;  but  let  me  first  go  bid 
them  farewell,  which  are  at  home  at  my  house.  And 
Jesus  said  unto  him.  No  man  having  put  his  hand  to 
the  plough  and  looking  back,  is  fit  for  the  kingdom 
of  God.'' 

In  this,  as  in  the  former  instance,  the  person  con- 
cerned was  a  disciple,  one  to  whom  the  ministry  of 
the  kingdom  had  been  commuted  :  like  him,  he  was 
in  earnest,  and  desired  in  sincerity  to  obey  his  Mas- 
ter's will.  But  he  had  this  evidence  of  superior  faith 
and  zeal  to  his  companion,  that,  whereas  the  one 
desired  to  return  home  and  tend  his  earthly  parent 
till  attention  was  needed  no  longer,  the  other  merely 
desired  to  revisit  his  family  for  a  moment,  in  order  to 
bid  them  farewell,  and  then  rejoin  his  Lord  and 
Master.  But  he,  too,  had  miscalculated  the  amount 
of  that  Master's  requirements.    "  Jesus  said  unto  him, 


148  CHRISTIAN    RESOLUTION. 

No  man  having  put  his  hand  to  the  plough,  and 
looking  back,  is  fit  for  the  kingdom  of  God."  Ashe 
who  drives  the  plough  must,  from  the  moment  in 
which  he  begins  his  labour  to  that  in  which  he  ends 
it,  look  forward  continually,  and  keep  the  lines  of 
furrow  close  to  each  other,  side  by  side,  or  his  work 
will  be  spoiled;  as  to  turn  away  from,  or  to  cease  to 
attend  to  his  prescribed  task,  are  sure  signs  that  he  is 
not  a  trusty  servant,  or  worthy  of  his  hire,  so,  for  one 
who  has  engaged  himself  to  follow  Me  to  betray  a 
hankering  after  what  he  has  left  behind,  is  an  evidence 
of  his  unfitness  for  the  discharge  of  the  awful  duties 
in  which  he  has  involved  himself. 

Such,  brethren,  was  the  manner  in  which  our 
Lord  and  Saviour  inculcated  the  necessity  of  steadi- 
ness and  resolution  in  those  who  received  His  religion. 
Primarily,  the  admonitions  were  given  for  the  benefit 
of  those  who  belonged  to  the  sacred  ministry  of  His 
Church  ;  and  the  two  latter  were  addressed  to  persons 
whose  objects,  under  any  other  circumstances,  would 
have  been  not  only  innocent  but  praiseworthy.  Yet 
He,  Who  Himself  wept  at  the  grave  of  Lazarus, 
reproves  a  son  who  desires  to  follow  his  father's 
remains  to  the  tomb.  "  Let  the  dead  bury  their 
dead."  He,  who,  amid  the  agonies  of  the  cross,  did 
not  forget  to  commend  His  own  mother  to  the  charge 
of  the  beloved  disciple,  rebukes  a  follower  who  only 


CHRISTIAN    RESOLUTION.  149 

desired  to  bid  farewell  to  those  who  were  nearest  and 
dearest  to  him.  "  No  man  having  put  his  hand  to 
the  plough,  and  looking  back,  is  fit  for  the  kingdom 
of  God." 

Now,  why  was  this  ?  Why  was  such  severity  of 
tone  (for  under  the  apparent  circumstances  of  the 
case  there  ivas  severity)  adopted,  with  respect  to 
persons  desiring  to  do  what,  at  any  rate,  seemed  law- 
ful ?  The  answer  is  that  in  their  case,  the  course 
which  they  desired  to  pursue  was  not  lawful.  They 
ought  already  to  have  counted  the  cost  of  following 
Christ,  and  becoming  preachers  of  His  Gospel.  They 
need  not  have  entered  His  Ministry  unless  they  had 
chosen  it.  There  was  no  constraint  or  compulsion. 
But  having  made  their  choice,  they  were  bound  to 
abide  by  it,  and  if  it  involved  difficult  sacrifices,  and 
painful  surrenders,  those  surrenders  and  sacrifices 
must  nevertheless  be  made.  Their  profession  was 
not  to  be  made  and  then  cancelled :  their  allegiance 
must  not  be  doubtful.  What  might  once  have  been 
lawful  to  them  was  so  no  longer,  for  their  lives  were 
to  be  devoted  to  a  single  object ;  and  nothing  was  to 
be  thought  of  a  second  time  which  came  in  collision 
with,  or  was  a  hindrance  to  it,  even  though  the  thing 
were  in  itself  praiseworthy.  The  Gospel  was  to  be 
preached  in  all  the  world ;  the  whole  race  of  man- 
kind was  to  be  invited  into  the  fold  of  Christ,  and 


150  CHRISTIAN    RESOLUTION, 

they  who  were  the  messengers  of  glad  tidings,  were 
bound  to  postpone  all  other  considerations  to  that  of 
devoting  themselves,  body  and  soul,  to  the  mission 
whereupon  they  were  sent. 

The  warnings,  therefore,  which  we  have  been  con- 
sidering, were  addressed  first  of  all  to  the  ministers 
of  the  Gospel,  but  they  are  in  a  great  measure  appli- 
cable to  us  all,  seeing  that  devotion,  resolution,  and 
stability,  are  no  less  essential  to  each  private  Chris- 
tian in  his  vocation  and  calling,  than  to  those  who, 
by  the  Holy  Ghost,  have  been  made  overseers  of  the 
flock,  to  feed  the  Church  of  God,  which  He  hath 
purchased  with  His  own  Blood.  Let  us  consider  the 
text,  then,  with  reference  to  ourselves. 

And  first,  as  to  what  is  meant  by  "putting  our 
hand  to  the  plough."  In  the  case  of  the  person  to 
whom  our  Lord  spake, — the  phrase,  no  doubt,  meant 
the  entering  on  the  work  of  the  ministry;  in  our  own 
it  must  be  considered  as  that  act  of  our  lives  in  which 
we  were  brought  into  covenant  with  God,  by  our 
renunciation  of  the  world,  the  devil,  and  the  flesh; 
by  the  profession  of  our  faith  in  Christ  crucified,  and 
by  the  vow  to  keep  God's  Holy  will  and  command- 
ments, and  to  walk  in  the  same  all  the  days  of  our 
life.  AVhen  we  were  admitted  into  the  Catholic 
Church  by  Baptism,  we  put  our  hands  to  the  pjpugh. 
We  made  our  choice^  or  rather,  it  was  made  for  us 


CHRISTIAN    RESOLUTION.  151 

by  lliose  who  had  the  experience  which  we  as  yet 
possessed  not,  and  we  have  each  since,  in  our  own 
persons,  ratified  and  confirmed  the  same,  in  the  face 
of  God,  and  of  the  congregation,  so  soon  as  we  came 
to  years  of  discretion. 

Thus  we  have  put  our  hand  to  the  plough.  Lite 
and  death  having  been  set  before  us,  we  have  made 
our  election  between  them.  With  the  full  knowledge 
that  the  way  of  safety  is  steep,  rugged,  narrow,  we 
have  chosen  it  instead  of  the  broad  and  easy  one, 
which  leadeth  to  destruction.  With  the  full  know- 
ledge that  our  affections  and  appetites  within,  and  the 
world  without,  would  attract  us  in  one  direction,  we 
have  deliberately  preferred  to  shape  our  course  in 
another.  We  have  declared  that  we  will  give  our 
full  allegiance  both  of  body  and  soul  to  Him  under 
whose  banners  we  have  engaged  ourselves  to  fight, 
and  that  we  will  be  His  faithful  soldiers  and  servants 
unto  our  lives'  end. 

And  so  far,  all  is  well.  We  did  well  and  wisely 
in  putting  our  hands  to  the  plough:  but  nevertheless, 
this  act,  though  a  wise  act,  and  a  godly,  will  only 
serve  to  increase  our  condemnation,  unless  we  fulfil 
the  duty  we  have  undertaken.  ^'  No  man,  having 
put  his  hand  to  the  plough,  a7id  looking  back,  is  fit 
for  the  kingdom  of  God.'^ 

It  is  not  sufficient  that  we  begin  well :  we  must 


152  CHRISTIAN    RESOLUTION. 

continue  in  the  course  we  have  chosen.  Unchecked 
by  difficulty,  unbaffled  by  disappointment,  unwearied 
by  exertion,  undismayed  by  danger,  we  must  hold 
our  bold,  straightforward  course,  with  eyes  fixed  on 
one  object,  with  hs?nds  engaged  in  one  task,  with 
hearts  steadily  and  unflinchingly  devoted  to  the  one 
great  cause.  There  are  many  things  which  still 
tempt  us  to  linger,  many  to  turn  aside ;  many  a 
voice  which  we  yearn  after,  will  seem  to  upbraid  us 
for  passing  by ;  many  a  scene  of  gay  and  dazzling 
pleasure  will  hire  us  to  pause  and  join  it;  but  so 
sure  as  we  look  back  we  are  undone,  even  as  that 
unhappy  woman  who  perished  midway  between 
the  cities  of  the  plain  and  the  mountain  of  refuge. 
"Remember  Lot's  wife." 

In  what  then,  as  regards  ourselves,  may  the  sin  of 
"  looking  back  "  be  said  to  consist  ? 

In  few  words  it  is  this  :  it  is  to  mourn  aft-er  those 
things  which  we  resigned,  when  we  engaged  our- 
selves to  walk  in  the  steps  of  a  crucified  Saviour.  It 
is  to  endeavour  to  unite  the  service  of  God  and 
Mammon,  to  try  to  live  a  spiritual  life,  and  yet  to 
avoid  mortifying  the  body,  to  seek  a  reward  in 
heaven,  and  at  the  same  time  to  enjoy  the  world,  to 
aim  at  reaching  the  crown  of  the  redeemed,  without 
sharing  the  cross  of  the  Redeemer.  It  is  to  hear  the 
truth,  and  then  to  excuse  ourselves  from  obeying  it ; 


CHRISTIAN    RESOLUTION.  153 

it  is  to  leani  the  strictness  of  the  law  of  God,  and 
then  to  soften  it  down  and  explain  it  away,  and  so 
make  it  a  dead  letter.  It  is  to  hesitate  and  waver  in 
our  profession  through  fear  of  what  may  be  said- 
about  us.  It  is  to  set  our  affections  nominally  on 
things  heavenly,  and  to  prize  earthly  things  really, 
though  secretly,  a  great  deal  more.  It  is  to  be  so 
occupied  and  entangled  with  what  we  see  passing 
around  us,  as  practically  to  forget  the  things  which 
are  not  seeti,  that  invisible  kingdom  which  is  as 
true,  certain,  and  close  to  us  at  all  times,  as  those 
things  which  our  eyes  can  see,  and  our  hands 
can  handle.  It  is,  as  it  has  been  well  described, 
"  to  have  God  upon  our  lips,  and  the  world  in  our 
hearts." 

And  of  those  who  yield  themselves  to  this, — the 
natural  temper  of  all  our  minds, — we  are  taught 
that  they  are  "  not  fit  for  the  kingdom  of  God  :" 
though  outward  members  of  His  visible  Church, 
they  are  not  fit  for,  or  worthy  of  their  position. 
They  are  trees  with  a  show  of  leaves,  but  no 
fruit,  whose  end  is  to  be  cut  down,  uprooted,  and 
burned. 

INIy  brethren,  these  are  awful  considerations  for 

us  all ;  for  none,  it  is  to  be  presumed,  can  look  back 

upon  their  past  lives  without  knowing  themselves  to 

have  been  guilty,  not  only  of  longing  after  things 

14 


154  CHRISTIAN    RESOLUTION. 

which  ihey  have  avowed  to  renounce,  but  of  num- 
berless actual  back-slidings  ;  and  this,  when,  by  the 
grace  of  the  Holy  Ghost  Which  dwelleth  in  them, 
they  might,  if  only  they  would,  have  been  kept  from 
falling. 

All  that  is  past,  however,  is  now  irremediable. 
We  cannot  undo  what  has  been  done.  We  can 
only  live  on  in  humiUation,  and  penitence,  and 
prayer  for  forgiveness,  in  the  hope  tha't  as  God  sees 
our  sincerity  and  earnestness,  He  will,  for  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ's  sake,  bring  us  back  again  gradually, 
and  so  far  as  it  is  possible,  to  the  position  we  have 
lost. 

But  all  depends,  under  grace,  and  God's  mercy, 
upon  our  keeping  our  hand  diligently  to  the  plough, 
and  looking  steadfastly  forward  for  the  time  to  come. 

Let  us  consider,  therefore,  that  we  have  not  only 
a  most  arduous  work  to  do,  but  that  if  we  have  been 
hindered,  it  is  because  we  have  put  hindrances  to 
the  doing  of  it  in  om-  own  way.  Let  us  reflect  that 
our  time  is  very  limited,  and  that  of  our  brief  day 
we  have  already  lost  much.  Firm,  steadfast,  un- 
shrinking resolution  for  the  time  to  come,  is  under 
such  circumstances,  our  only  chance  of  safety.  The 
Holy  Spirit  (blessed  be  His  Mercy  !)  is  willing  to 
co-operate  with  us.  Our  Holy  Mother,  the  Church, 
is  ready  with  her   instructions  and   ordinances,   to 


CHRISTIAN    RESOLUTIOX.  155 

fence  us  about  with  such  external  aids  as  may- 
render  the  habits  of  a  hfe  of  devotion  more  easy  to 
us,  and  backshdings  less  of  a  temptation.  The  rest 
remains  with  ourselves.  We  must  endeavour  to 
realize  our  true  state,  that,  as  I  have  already  said,  in 
our  steadfastness  is  our  only  chance  of  safety.  We 
must  keep  our  eyes  fixed  on  one  object, — the  work- 
ing out  our  own  salvation.  From  this  object  nothing 
must  divert  us:  it  must  absorb  us  wholly.  No 
sacrifices  must  be  counted  too  costly  to  attain  it:  no 
surrenders  too  great  to  secure  it.  We  must  bend  all 
our  cares  and  studies  this  one  way  ;  and  no  allure- 
ments of  the  World,  no  earthly  success,  no  domestic 
afi'ections,  must  interfere  with  it.  All  must  be  laid 
aside  which  comes  in  competition  with  it ;  every- 
thing must  be  thankfully  received,  (trial,  suffering, 
sorrow,  be  it  what  it  may)  which  may  help  us  for- 
ward in  our  pursuit  of  it.  If  need  be,  we  must 
leave  the  dead  to  bury  the  dead,  and  be  ourselves 
without  a  place  wherein  to  lay  our  head.  We 
must  be  ready  to  give  up  all  that  most  we  cherish 
and  love  the  best,  without  repining  and  without  re- 
grets ;  for  '^  no  man  having  put  his  hand  to  the  plough, 
and  looking  back,  is  fit  for  the  kingdom  of  God." 

To  encourage  us  in  such  a  course,  we  have  all  the 
most  gracious  promises  which  are  written  in  the 
Word  of  God.     And  on  the  other  hand,  to  deter  us 


156  CHRISTIAN    RESOLUTION. 

from  back-sliding,  we  have  there  the  admonitory 
record  of  the  fate  of  those  who  in  the  hour  of  trial 
have  mourned  over  what  they  had  once  professed  to 
resign.  And  the  lesson  which  the  history  of  these 
judgments  affords,  is,  that  they  who  hesitate  are  un- 
done ;  and  that  whatever  their  previous  advancement 
may  have  been,  if  they  once  deliheraiely  look  back, 
when  they  have  put  their  hands  to  the  plough,  their 
labour  proves  all  in  vain. 

"^Remember  Lot's  wife;'  for  she  was  one,^'  as 
Bishop  Andrewes  instructs  us,  who  "  fell  when  she 
had  stood  long,  and  who  wof Lilly  perished  at  that 
instant  when  God's  special  favour  was  proffered  to 
preserve  her  ;  when  of  all  other  times,  she  had  means 
and  cause  to  stand  ;  Men,  of  all  other  times,  she  fell 
away."  Having  been  brought  out  of  Sodom,  and 
warned  of  the  danger  that  would  ensue ;  having 
Angels  to  go  before  her.  Lot  to  bear  her  company, 
her  daughters  to  attend  her,  and  being  now  at  the 
entrance  of  Zoar,  the  haven  of  her  rest,  that  very 
time,  place,  and  presence,  she  made  choice  of  to 
perish  in. 

And  she  who  died  with  her  face  towards  Sodom, 
was  one  whose  sin  it  was  that  she  "  looked  back." 
She  did  not  go  back,  she  only  looked  back :  and  she 
never  looked  forward  more  !" 

My  brethren,  let  us  think  of  these  things. 


SERMON   X. 


TRUSTFULNESS. 


Job  xiii.  15. 
Though  He  slay  me,  yet  will  I  trust  in  Him. 

These  are  the  well-known  words  of  that  Holy 
Patriarch  whose  praise  is  in  all  the  Churches,  for  the 
patience  and  trustfulness  with  which  he  bore  the 
trying  of  his  faith,  and  submitted  to  the  merciful  chas- 
tisements  of  his  heavenly  Father. 

It  is  a  great  matter  with  us,  my  brethren,  if,  when 
we  can  weep  no  longer  for  a  bereavement,  we  begin 
to  endeavour  to  resign  ourselves  to  God's  will ;  if, 
when  bodily  pain,  or  worldly  anguish,  have  come 
upon  us,  and  after  a  while  are  lightened,  we  acknow- 
ledge God's  hand  in  the  matter,  and  on  that  ground 
abstain  from  murmuring,  we  make  as  though  we  had 
done  something  very  exemplary.  Yet  this  man,  when 
his  servants  had  been  slaughtered,  his  flocks  and 
herds  carried  off,  his  children  all  slain  in  a  moment 
by  the  fall  of  their  house,  and  himself  "smitten  with 
14* 


158  TRUSTFULNESS. 

sore  boils,  from  the  sole  of  his  foot  unto  his  crown/' 
gave  way  to  no  hasty  repining,  nor  expressions  of 
impatience;  he  "neither  sinned  nor  charged  God 
foolishly ;"  but  declared,  as  yo^i  have  heard  in  the 
text,  "  Though  He  slay  me,  yet  will  I  trust  in  him." 

Therefore  it  was,  that  when  he  had  been  tried, 
«'  the  Lord  turned  the  captivity  of  Job,"  and  "blessed 
the  latter  end  of  Job  more  than  his  beginning;" 
therefore  it  was  that  the  Holy  Ghost  speaking  by  the 
mouth  of  the  prophet  Ezekiel,  classes  him  with  Noah 
and  Daniel,  as  among  the  most  eminent  of  those 
whose  righteousness  might,  under  certain  circumstan- 
ces, have  not  only  delivered  their  own  souls,  but  been 
a  plea  for  mercy  in  behalf  of  their  native  country, 
when  it  had  trespassed  grievously ;  therefore  it  was, 
that  St.  James  holds  him  up  for  our  imitation,  as  an 
"example  of  suffering  affliction,  and  of  patience." 

Job  endured,  as  seeing  Him  that  is  invisible;  he 
had  that  faith  which  has  realized  to  itself  the  convic- 
tion that  some  how  or  other  all  things  are  working 
together  for  good  to  them  that  love  God,  and  which 
calmly  submits  itself  without  anxiety  to  whatever 
God  sees  fit  to  lay  upon  it.  This  Christian  grace  of 
trustfulness,  is  in  a  great  degree,  the  same  as  faith ; 
only  faith  comprehends  trustfulness ;  it  is  the  larger 
term  of  the  two  ;  faith  being  that  process  of  the  mind 
by  which  it  assents  to  everything  which  God  has 


•  TRUSTFULNESS.  159 

made  known ;  whereas  trustfulness  seems  rather  limit- 
ed to  those  circumstances  in  which  belief  is  connected 
with  endurance:  thus,  it  was  Faith  which  taught 
Abraham  to  believe  that  Sarah  should  conceive  and 
bear  a  son,  though  he  was  himself  an  hundred  years 
old,  and  it  had  ceased  to  be  with  her  after  the  manner 
of  women  ;  and  it  was  Trustfulness  which  enabled 
him  to  stretch  forth  his  hand,  and  take  the  knife  to 
slay  his  son,  though  by  the  very  act  it  seemed  as 
though  lie  would  himself  make  the  performance  of 
God's  promise  impossible,  namely,  that  his  seed 
should  be  as  the  stars  of  heaven.  It  Avas  Faith 
which  incited  Job  to  offer  burnt  offerings  according 
to  the  number  of  his  children ;  it  was  Trustfulness 
which,  in  the  midst  of  bereavement,  worldly  loss,  and 
bodily  suffering,  drew  from  his  lips  the  glorious 
acknowledgment,  "Though  He  slay  me,  yet  will  I 
trust  in  Him." 

Now  let  us,  in  the  ensuing  discourse,  say  something 
upon  Christian  Trustfulness. 

None  of  us  can  have  lived  any  length  of  time  in 
the  world  without  having,  as  part  of  our  appointed 
trial,  been  visited  with  pain  and  sickness,  with  the 
loss  of  friends,  and  with  more  or  less  of  temporal 
misfortune.  How  these  chastisements  have  been 
borne  by  us,  has  depended  upon  how  far  we  have 
taught  ourselves  to  look  upon  them  as  a  precious 


160  TRUSTFULNESS. 

legacy  from  Christ  our  Saviour,  as  a  portion  of  His 
Cross,  as  a  token  of  His  love,  and  of  His  desire  that 
we  should  be  united  with  Him  in  the  fellowship  of 
sufferings.  It  is  to  be  feared  that  there  are  very  few 
of  us  but  have  given  way  in  some  measure  to  im- 
patience and  repinings  ;  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  none 
of  us  have  so  used  our  chastisements  as  to  turn  into 
curses  what  were  sent  to  be  blessings,  and  that  our 
hearts  have  not  been  hardened  instead  of  softened  by 
the  visitations  of  God.  I  will  assume  that  we  have 
received  our  trials  in  a  Christian  spirit,  at  least  so  far 
as  this,  that  we  have  not  endeavoured,  while  under 
their  pressure,  to  resist  and  rebel  against  God.  And 
this  being  the  case,  I  will  ask  you  whether,  now  that 
the  first  pangs  and  bitterness  of  those  trials  are  over, 
you  cannot  see  for  yourselves  that  they  were  sent  for 
a  wise  and  merciful  purpose?  Can  you  not  trace 
how,  and  in  what  respect,  it  has  been  good  for  you 
to  be  in  trouble  and  disappointed  ?  How  well  it  has 
been  for  their  survivors  as  well  as  for  themselves, 
that  "  the  righteous  have  been  taken  away  from  the 
evil  to  come  ?"  How  disease  and  pain  have  worked 
together  for  your  good  ?  Looking  back  ten,  twenty, 
thirty  years,  upon  what,  at  the  time,  you  considered 
the  great  misfortunes  of  your  life,  can  you  not  now 
see  the  gracious  designs  with  which  they  were  sent  ? 
Will  you  not  own  that  what  Providence  chose  for 


TRUSTFULNESS.  161 

you  was  far  better  than  what  you  would  have  chosen 
for  yourselves?  Will  you  not  acknowledge  that,  all 
things  considered,  you  would  not  now  wish  that 
things  should  have  been  different?  And  if  this  be  the 
case,  (as  I  suppose  will  be  generally  allowed)  have 
we  not  at  once  a  most  powerful  argument  in  favour 
of  trustfulness,  and  a  most  satisfactory  evidence  that 
"  in  quietness  and  in  confidence"  will  be  our 
strength  ?  "  Thou  wilt  keep  him,"  saith  the  prophet, 
"  in  perfect  peace  whose  mind  is  stayed  on  Thee  : 
because  he  trusteth  in  Thee.  Trust  ye  in  the  Lord 
for  ever :  for  in  the  Lord  Jehovah  is  everlasting 
strength." 

In  proportion,  as  we  have  the  Spirit  of  Christ, 
(and  if  we  have  not  the  Spirit  of  Christ,  we  are  none 
of  His,)  will  be  our  desire  to  be  made  like  unto  Him 
in  all  things;  and  this  resemblance  can  never  be 
attained  without  a  following  of  Him  in  the  path  of 
suffering,  and  a  submission  and  trustfulness  like  His 
as  we  pass  along  it.  He  would,  had  it  been  possible, 
have  escaped  the  sharp  and  bitter  agony  of  the  Cross  : 
but  when  that  could  not  be.  He  calmly  reposed 
Himself  in  trustful  reliance  on  His  Father.  "  Father, 
if  Thou  be  willing,  remove  this  cup  from  Me,  never- 
theless, not  My  will,  but  Thine,  be  done."  And  it  is 
upon  this  ground  that  both  the  Bible  and  the  Church 
exhorts  us  to  a  performance  of  the  duty  I  am  inculcat- 
ing upon  you.     *^  Let  us,"  writes  St.  Paul  to  the 


162  TRUSTFULNESS. 

Hebrews,  "  run  with  patience  the  race  that  is  set 
before  us,  lookhig  unto  Jesus  the  Author  and  Finisher 
of  our  faith  ;  Who,  for  the  joy  that  was  set  before 
Him,  endured  the  cross,  despising  the  shame."  And 
so  our  Church,  when,  in  lier  oflice  for  the  Visitation 
of  the  Sick,  she  would  speak  her  word  of  consolation 
to  those  whose  bodies  are  racked  with  disease  and 
bodily  pain,  reminds  them  that  "there  should  be  no 
greater  comfort  to  Christian  persons,  than  to  be  made 
like  unto  Christ,  by  suffering  patiently  adversities, 
troubles,  and  sicknesses.  For  He  Himself  went  not 
up  to  joy,  but  first  He  suffered  pain ;  He  entered  not 
into  His  glory  before  He  was  crucified.  So  truly 
our  way  to  eternal  joy  is  to  suffer  here  with  Christ ; 
and  our  door  to  enter  into  eternal  life  is  gladly  to  die 
with  Christ :  that  we  may  rise  again  from  death,  and 
dwell  with  Him  in  everlasting  life." 

Now,  I  would  fain  hope,  brethren,  as  I  said  before, 
that  you  are  all  so  far  in  earnest  in  your  Christian 
profession  as  this,  that,  at  least,  you  acknowledge 
God's  hand  in  all  the  trials  that  befall  you  ;  that  you 
receive  them  as  His  chastenings  Who  correcteth  in 
love;  and  that  you  endeavour  to  meet  them  in  a 
spirit  of  trustfulness, — a  spirit  more  or  less  strong  in 
proportion  to  your  individual  growth  in  holiness, — 
but  still,  of  such  a  character  in  each  of  you,  that  it 
enables  you  to  check*  at  once  all  disposition  to  open 
unthankfulness  and  mm  muring. 


TRITST  FULNESS.  163 

And  so  far  it  is  well;  but  at  this  point  we  arc  ex- 
posed to  a  temptation  which  it  is  of  the  higliest  impor- 
tance to  us  to  resist;  and  which, if  we  yield  to  it,  will 
effectually  hinder  our  progress  in  the  course  of  disci- 
pline, by  which  our  wills  are  being  brought  hito 
submission  to  God's. 

The  danger  to  which  I  allude,  is  that  of  endeavour- 
ing, by  any  movement  of  impatience,  to  lighten  the 
burden  which  our  Heavenly  Father  has  laid  on  us; 
— of  taking  matters,  as  it  were,  into  our  own  hands, 
and  so  thwarting,  or  making  of  none  effect,  the  mer- 
ciful designs  of  Providence  towards  us.  Our  duty  is 
to  lie  still  under  the  rod,  and  to  be  silent  when  we  are 
smitten.  But  then  we  must  take  care  that  our  pas- 
siveness  and  silence  are  the  result  of  Christian  princi- 
ples. There  is  a  silence  which  arises  from  sullenness, 
and  a  passiveness  which  comes  from  apathy  or 
despair,  and  which  is  near  akin  to  that  fearful  frame 
of  mind,  in  which  a  man  has  only  to  obey  the  advice 
of  Job's  wife  to  her  husband, — namely  to  curse  God 
and  die. 

Trials  are  sent  us,  not  for  the  purpose  of  teaching  us 
to  harden  ourselves  into  insensibility,  as,  ere  now, 
has  been  the  vain  endeavour  of  some  one  who  knew 
not  God,  they  are  sent  us  in  order  that  when  we  feel 
their  acuteness,  we  may  raise  our  thoughts  to  Him 
Who  alone  can  lighten  them,  and  bless  them  to  us. 


164  TRUSTFULNESS. 

They  are  sent  us,  not  to  provoke  us  to  grow  sullen 
under  them,  but  rather  as  evidences  that  we  are  the 
objects  of  God's  tender  and  fatherly  care,  and  conse- 
quently, as  incitements  to  thankfulness.  They  are 
sent  us,  not  to  drive  us  to  despair,  but  to  help  us  in 
acquiring  that  healthful,  elastic  tone  of  mind  in  which 
cheerful  trustfulness  has  its  perfect  work;  in  which, 
let  what  will  come  upon  us,  and  how  hard  soever  it 
may  be,  at  the  moment,  to  endure,  we  have  still  the 
firm,  abiding  conviction,  which  nothing  can  shake, 
that  God  is  doing  what  is  best  for  us,  and  that  if  we 
will  only  submit  ourselves  unreservedly  to  Him,  He 
will,  in  His  own  good  time,  give  us  "beauty  for  ashes, 
the  oil  of  joy  for  mourning,  and  the  garment  of  praise 
for  the  spirit  of  heaviness." 

The  feeling,  therefore,  which  ought  to  predominate 
in  our  minds,  under  all  the  chastening  visitations  to 
which  we  are  exposed,  should  be  this,  that  it  is  sin 
to  doubt  the  gracious  purposes  of  Go'd  towards  us,  or 
to  receive  them  in  any  other  than  a  thankful  spirit. 
We  must  remember  God's  promises  to  His  Church, 
and  consider  that  what  was  promised  to  the  body, 
was  promised  to  the  members  likewise  ;  ^'  Thus  saith 
the  Lord,  that  created  thee,  0  Jacob,  and  He  that 
formed  thee,  0  Israel,  Fear  not :  for  1  have  redeemed 
thee,  I  have  called  thee  by  thy  name  ;  thou  art  Mine. 
When  thou  passest  through  the  waters  I  will  be  with 


TRUSTFULNESS.  1G5 

thee;  and  through  the  rivers  they  shall  not  overflow 
thee :  wlieii  thou  walkest  through  the  fire,  thou  shalt 
not  be  burned ;  neither  shall  the  flame  kindle  upon 
thee.  For  I  am  the  Lord  thy  God,  the  Holy  One  of 
Israel,  thy  Saviour."  And  again,  "  I,  even  I  am  He 
that  comforteth  you :  who  art  thou  that  thou  should- 
est  be  afraid  of  a  man  that  shall  die,  and  of  the  son 
of  man  which  shall  be  made  as  grass :  and  forgettest 
the  Lord  thy  Maker,  that  hath  stretched  forth  the 
heavens,  and  laid  the  foundations  of  the  earth  ?'^ 

Under  such  circumstances,  then,  and  with  such 
convictions,  we  shall  be  in  no  hurry  to  ease  our 
shoulders  from  the  burden  which  God  hath  laid  upon 
them  ;  we  shall  not  try  to  shift  it  ofl^,  nor  writhe  under 
it.  We  shall  not  be  impatient,  and  restless,  striving 
how  we  may  release  ourselves  from  that  which  pains 
us.  We  shall  bear  the  rod,  and  Him  Who  hath 
appointed  it,  and  lift  up  our  hearts  in  the  trustful 
spirit  of  Job, '-  Though  He  slay  me,  yet  will  I  trust  in 
Him.'^ 

It  is  hard  to  do  this; — (in  our  own  strength,  I  am 
sure  I  need  not  remind  you,  it  is  impossible  ;) — it  is 
hard  to  rejoice  in  tribulation  ;  to  yield  "most  humble 
and  hearty  thanks"  when  some  object,  who  has  been 
the  light  of  our  eyes,  is  removed  "from  the  miseries 
of  this  sinful  world;"  but  He  Who  sends  our  trials, 
sends  them  one  by  one,  as  we  are  able  to  bear  them^ 
15 


166 


TRUSTPtJLNESS. 


gradually  teaching  us  by  our  own  experience,  that  it 
is  good  for  us  to  be  afflicted.  "Before  I  was  in 
trouble  I  went  wrong,  but  now  have  I  kept  Thy 
law."  So  that  by  degrees  Ave  are  led  onward  from 
strength  to  strength,  and  our  trustfulness  increases 
(if  so  be  our  hearts  are  right  with  God,)  even  with 
the  growing  intensity  of  our  trials. 

And  how  mercifully  we  are  dealt  with,  we  shall 
be  the   more   ready  to  acknowledge,   the  more  we 
reflect  upon  the  manner  of  God's  visitations  towards 
us.     Could  our  eyes  pierce  into  the  future  ;  could  we 
look  into  each  successive  grave  that  is  opened  beside 
us,  till  we  have  reached  our  own  ;  could  we  at  once, 
and  at  one  view,  reckon  up  the  amount  of  pain  and 
sickness,  of  misfortune   and   temporal   loss,  of  dis- 
appointment and  blighted  prospects,  which  is  allotted 
to  each  in  his  earthly  career ;  could  we  apprehend, 
at  the  outset,  all  that  is  involved  in  a  daily  cross,  and 
a  following  of  Him  Who  died  thereon, — the  path, 
how  arduous,  how  rugged,  how  full  of  peril ;  how, 
as  each  ascent  is  gained,  a  higher,  and  a  higher  peak 
still  opens  upon  us,  which  must  be  surmounted  ere 
the  summit  can  be  reached ;  could  we,  at  our  first 
profession,  know  all  which  that  profession  requires  of 
us,  our  spirits  would  be  broken,  our  resolution  would 
fail,  and  we  should  shrink,  perhaps,  altogether  from 
the  contest.     But  our  merciful  Father,  in  His  love 


TRUSTFULNESS.  167 

and  tender  compassion,  leads  us  on  by  little  and  little, 
according  to  our  strength  ;  showing  ns  no  more  of  the 
way  than  we  can  accomplish  witliout  exhaustion  ; 
concealing  the  coming,  till  we  have  escaped  the 
present  danger,  and  thus  gradually  teaching  us  to 
trust  Him,  to  wish  for  no  more  light  than  He  vouch- 
safes us,  and  to  be  content  to  follow  step  by  step  in 
the  direction  where  He  calls  us,  even  as  faithful 
Abraham,  "  when  he  was  called  to  go  out  into  a 
place  which  he  should  after  receive  for  an  inherit- 
ance, obeyed  and  went  out,  not  knowing  whither 
he  went.^^ 

Surely,  the  experience  we  have  all  had,  during  the 
course  of  our  earthly  pilgrimage,  is  an  all-sufRcient 
argument  for  trustfulness  !  Surely  the  words  of  the 
Son  of  Sirach  must  come  home  to  every  heart !  "  My 
son,  if  thou  come  to  serve  the  Lord,  prepare  thy  soul 
for  temptation.  Set  thy  heart  aright  and  constantly 
endure,  and  make  not  haste  in  time  of  trouble. 
Cleave  unto  Him,  and  depart  not  away,  that  thou 

mayst  be  increased  at  thy  last  end Believe  in 

Him,  and  He  will  help  thee ;  order  thy  way  aright, 
and  trust  in  Him.  Ye  that  fear  the  Lord,  wait  for 
His  mercy,  and  go  not  aside  lest  ye  fall.  Ye  that  fear 
the  Lord,  believe  Him,  and  your  reward  shall  not  fail. 
Ye  that  fear  the  Lord,  hope  for  good,  and  for  everlast- 
ing joy  and  mercy.     Look  at  the  generations  of  old 


168  TRUSTFULNESS. 

and  see :  did  ever  any  trust  in  the  Lord,  and  was 
confounded  ?  Or  did  any  abide  in  His  fear,  and  was 
forsaken  ?  Or  whom  did  He  ever  despise,  that  called 
upon  Him  ?^' 

^'  Like  as  a  father  pitieth  his  own  children,  even 
so  is  the  Lord  merciful  unto  them  that  fear  Him. 
For  He  knoweth  whereof  we  are  made.  He  re- 
membereth  that  we  are  but  dust."  As  to  a  father, 
therefore,  we  should  look  up  to  Him,  with  the  docile, 
trustful  temper  of  little  children,  who  have  no  fears 
so  long  as  they  can  cling  to  a  parent's  bosom,  who 
have  no  thought  but  that  their  parents  know  what  is 
best  for  them,  and  will  do  what  is  best  by  them ; 
who  obey  simply,  and  submit  themselves  dutifully, 
and  trust  themselves  affectionately  and  thankfully; 
smiling  even  through  their  tears,  as  a  parent's  eye 
gleams  on  them,  and  loving  not  the  less  while  yield- 
ing to  fatherly  correction. 

In  all  time  of  our  tribulation,  in  all  time  of  our 
wealth,  under  the  pressure  of  adversity,  or  in  the 
extremity  of  pain  and  sorrow,  the  duty  is  still  the 
same,  "Though  He  slay  me,  yet  will  I  trust  in  Him ;" 
and  the  reward  of  trustfulness  is  still  the  same,  that 
"  in  the  midst  of  the  sorrows  which  we  have  in  our 
hearts.  His  comforts  will  refresh  our  souls," — He 
will  be  "  the  strength  of  them  that  put  their  trust  in 
Him." 


TRUSTFULNESS.  169 

But  it  is  not  in  personal  and  domestic  trials  only 
that  this  spirit  of  trustfulness  will  be  our  safeguard 
and  support.  In  all  those  perplexities  which  arise 
from  our  own  position  in  the  Church,  and  the 
Church's  position  in  the  world,  and  which  would 
otherwise  bewilder  us,  our  trustfulness  will  come  to 
our  refuge.  If  our  own  way  seems  more  full  of 
difficulties  than  usual,  we  have  only  to  trust  God, 
and  obey  Him  so  far  as  we  knoio  His  will,  and  in 
the  end  our  way  will  be  made  clear  to  us.  If 
clouds  seem  gathering  round  His  Church,  and  love  is 
waxing  cold,  and  truth  failing,  and  the  faithful  are 
minished  from  among  the  children  of  men,  trustful- 
ness is  still  the  remedy  for  our  perplexity ;  for  that 
assures  us  that  somehow  or  other  God  will  protect  His 
own,  and  maintain  His  own  cause.  "The  Lord  is  King, 
be  the  people  never  so  impatient :  He  sitteth  be- 
tween the  cherubims,  be  the  earth  never  so  unquiet.'' 

And  believe  me,  brethren,  there  never  was  greater 
need  of  a  trustful  spirit  among  Churchmen,  than  at 
the  present  time.  Without  are  fightings,  within  are 
fears  :  a  spirit  of  controversy,  fierce  and  cruel,  impla- 
cable and  unmerciful ;  holy  men  going  to  extremes 
on  either  side  ;  extremes  on  either  side  fraught  with 
danger ;  and  timidity,  cowardice,  and  a  temporizing, 
worldly  temper,  attributed  to  those  who  would  keep 
the  middle  path.  So  it  has  been  in  times  past;  so  I 
15* 


170  TRUSTFULNESS. 

suppose  it  will  continue  to  be  till  this  most  miserable 
world  shall  pass  away.  But  what  is  the  Christian's 
duty  under  such  circumstances?  Is  it  not  to  keep 
close  to  the  Catholic  Faith,  maintaining  that  whole 
and  undefiled,  hankering  after  nothing  more,  and 
satisfied  with  nothing  less?  And  what  is  the 
Churchman's  duty  as  respects  the  Church  ?  Is  it  not 
to  endeavour  to  carry  out  her  system  fully  and 
unreservedly  in  his  own  persoi>?  I  suppose  there 
are  some  things  which  we  all  wish  the  Church  did 
more  insist  on.  We  all  wish  the  Church  to  be  what 
she  is,  "and  as  much  better  as  God  shall  please  to 
make  her.''  Certahily,  one  cannot  speak  of  present 
practice  and  want  of  discipline,  without  desiring 
something  beyond  what  is.  But  what  then  ?  Will 
this  make' the  Churchman  discontented  Avith  his  con- 
dition, half  a  traitor,  and  altogether  unthankful  for 
his  actual  privileges  and  blessings?  No.  He  knows 
that  he  may  desire  lawfully,  and  indeed  practice 
lawfully,  more  than  the  Church  insists  on :  but  he 
also  knows  that  he  may  neither  desire  nor  practice 
more  than  she  allows.  And  upon  this  very  simple 
rule  he  acts;  and  thus  his  difficulties,  and  doubts,  and 
scruples,  are  removed ;  and  he  finds  by  the  sure  test 
of  experience,  that  if  we  honestly  try  to  do  God's  will, 
He  will  make  clear  the  path  in  which  we  ought  to  go, 
and  support  us  as  we  walk  along  it. 


TRUSTFULNESS.  171 

If  only  we  can  bring  ourselves  to  a  sincere  and 
steadfast  resolution,  like  that  of  Job,  "Though  He  slay 
me,  yet  will  I  trust  in  Him,"  we  are  thoroughly 
prepared  for  the  worst  that  can  befall  us.  Be  the 
persecution  what  it  may,  the  persecutor  can  but  slay 
the  body.  Be  the  tyranny  what  it  may,  it  will  soon 
be  overpast,  and  thereafter  cometh  rest  and  security. 

A  time  of  sharp  and  bitter  trial  may  be  at  hand. 
At  least,  all  things  seems  tending  that  way ;  at  least, 
many  of  us,  it  is  to  be  feared,  have  abused  their  day 
of  grace,  and  so  have  deserved  to  be  sifted  like 
wheat,  to  be  winnowed  with  the  fan  of  vengeance. 
But  come  when  it  may,  the  faithful  follower  of 
Christ  crucified  has  this  pre-eminent  consolation, 
that  the  sharper  the  humiliation,  suffering,  and  perse- 
cution, the  nearer  will  he  be  brought  into  the 
fellowship  of  Him  Who  was  despised,  and  rejected, 
and  mocked,  and  spit  upon,  and  scourged,  and 
crucified.  And  the  irusifid  servant  of  God  has  this 
assurance,  that  he  who  trusts  in  God  shall  "  never  be 
confounded,"  and  that  that  Catholic  Church,  of  which 
he  is  a  member,  is  guided  and  guarded  by  the  Most 
High ;  that  "  God  is  in  the  midst  of  her,  therefore 
shall  she  not  be  removed ;"  that  the  Lord  will  help 
her,  and  that  right  early  :"  that  though  the  heathen 
make  much  ado,  and  the  kingdoms  are  moved,  God 


172  TRUSTFULNESS. 

hath  but  to  show  his  voice,  and  the  earth  shall  melt 
away :  and  finally,  that  in  every  conflict  that  awaits 
her,  "  the  Lord  of  Hosts  is  with  us,  and  the  God  of 
Jacob  is  our  Refuge  !" 


SERMON  XI. 

ON      SPIRITUAL- MINDEDNESS. 

Romans  viii.  6. 

To  be  carnally  minded  is  death ;  but  to  be  spiritually  minded  is 
life  and  peace. 

The  term  "  to  be  minded,"  here  used,  has  refer- 
ence, in  the  original  Greek,  to  the  affection  which  a 
person  sets  on  any  given  object,  and  the  great  pains 
which  he  uses  in  obtaining  it.  Thus,  in  the  third 
chapter  of  the  epistle  to  the  Colossians,  where  the 
same  expression  occurs,  our  translation  renders  it, 
"  Set  your  affection  on  things  above."  It  is,  in  fact, 
an  exact  equivalent  to  the  common  phrase  among 
ourselves  of  setting  one's  heart  upon  a  thing. 

The  minding  of  the  flesh,  therefore,  or  ^'the  lust  of 
the  flesh,"  which,  as  we  are  taught  in  the  ninth 
article  of  our  Church,  "  some  do  expound  the  wis- 
dom, some  sensuality,  some  the  affection,  some  the 
desire  of  the   flesh,"   is  the  employing  our  whole 


174  ON    SPlttlTUAL-MINDEDNESS, 

thought,  and  pains,  and  time,  in  gratifying  and  in 
providing  for  the  gratification  of  mere  bodily  appe- 
tites :  while,  on  the  other  hand,  the  being  spiritually 
minded,  or  the  minding  of  the  soul,  is  an  earnest 
seeking  after  the  things  of  the  unseen  world,  a  de- 
termined renmiciation  of  every  thing  which  may- 
interfere  with  the  soul's  communion  with  God,  and 
a  steadfast  walking  by  faith  and  not  by  sight. 

The  result  of  adopting  this  latter  course,  St.  Paul 
informs  us,  will  be  life  and  peace, — peace,  that  is, 
even  amid  the  trials  and  sorrows  of  this  lower  world, 
and  life,  eternal  in  duration  and  happiness  in  the 
heavens.  But  to  be  carnally  minded,  to  mind  the 
body  to  the  neglect  of  the  soul,  is  death,  can  only 
issue  in  everlasting  misery  and  perdition. 

The  doctrine  here  set  before  us  is  repeated  so 
continually  in  Holy  Scripture,  and  lies  so  entirely  at 
the  foundation  of  Christian  morals,  that  it  will,  no 
doubt,  seem  to  many  an  exhausted  subject,  and  one 
about  which  nothing  more  remains  to  be  said.  And 
this  would  be  true,  if  it  followed  as  a  matter  of 
course  that  men  acted  upon  their  convictions,  and 
thought  much  about  truths  with  which  they  are 
familiar.  Unhappily,  however,  the  reverse  of  this 
is  the  case.  We  admit  the  evil  and  exceeding 
danger  of  a  carnal  mind,  but  we  remain  carnal- 
minded.     We  allow  that  to  be  spiritually-minded 


ON    SPIRITUAL-MINDEDNESd.  17/5 

is  life  and  peace,  but  we  go  on  from  day  to  day  as  if 
life  and  peace  were  not  worth  having.  We  are 
exhorted  to  set  our  affections  on  things  above,  not 
on  things  of  the  earth,  and  to  lay  up  for  ourselves 
treasures  in  heaven,  and  we  are  reminded  that  our 
conversation  and  citizenship  are  in  heaven.  Of 
these  things  we  acknowledge  the  truth,  but  it  is  to 
be  feared  that  many  go  no  further,  or  at  most, 
resolve  within  themselves  that  they  will  become 
spiritual  minded,  when  this  world  and  its  concerns 
are  fading  from  their  view,  and  the  next  is  opening 
upon  them.  We  all,  perhaps,  more  or  less,  allow 
ourselves  to  think  of  spiritual-mindedness  as  a  quality 
to  be  attained  at  the  end  of  life,  rather  than  as  one 
which  is  an  indispensable  accompaniment  of  its 
whole  course.  It  is,  indeed,  true  that  the  higher  a 
person  advances  in  practical  holiness, — the  nearer 
he  goes  on  unto  perfection,  the  more  spiritual-minded 
will  he  become,  so  that  the  dying  saint,  who  has 
been  serving  God  diligently  through  a  long  career, 
may  at  last  be  only  a  httle  lower  than  the  angels; 
his  spiritual-mindedness  may,  and  will  at  the  close 
of  his  pilgrimage,  be  much  more  developed  than  it 
was  at  first,  but  it  is  worse  than  vain  to  suppose  on 
that  account,  that  spiritual-mindedness  will  grow  up, 
men  know  not  how,  out  of  the  dregs  of  carnal-, 
mindedness ;  that  if  they  have  served  the  world  in 


176  ON    SPIRTTIJAL-MINDEDNESS. 

their  youth,  and  given  their  affections  to  it,  those 
affections  will,  as  a  matter  of  course,  fix  themselves 
on  God  as  life  advances. 

The  fact  is  that  people  blind  their  eyes  to  their 
real  condition.  They  indulge  in  the  very  common 
fallacy  of  keeping  obligations  to  which  they  are 
already  pledged  out  of  sight;  just  as,  because  it 
happens  to  be  the  fashion,  some  persons,  at  the 
present  time,  take  upon  themselves  vows  of  temper- 
ance, apparently  never  reflectijig  that  they  have 
already  made  such  a  vow  when  they  were  admitted 
into  covenant  with  God  at  Baptism;  or,  just  as  is 
said  to  be  the  case  among  tlie  Roman  Catholics, 
when  monks  and  nuns,  on  making  their  profession, 
engage  themselves  to  die  to  the  world,  and  are  laid 
upon  a  bier,  and  the  office  for  the  dead  celebrated 
over  them,  as  though  their  dying  to  the  world  was 
some  new  thing,  and  as  if  in  Baptism  they  were  not 
already  dead, — buried  with  Christ  and  raised  with 
Him,  to  new  hopes  and  a  new  life. 

And  this  same  fallacy,  I  say,  frequently  appears  in 
the  case  of  those  who  profess  to  be  striving  after 
spiritual-mindedness.  It  does  not  seem  to  occur  to 
them  that  the  very  adoption  of  Christianity  has 
pledged  them,  at  the  outset,  to  that  which  they  are 
disposed  to  look  upon  as  one  of  the  latest  and  highest 
acquirements  of  the  Christian.     Yet  if  any  one  will 


ON   SPIRITUAL-MINDEDNESS.  l77 

turn  to  that  epistle  from  whence  my  text  is  taken,  or 
iiideed  to  any  of  tlie  Apostolic  writings,  he  will  find 
that  the  inspired  writers  assume  it  as  a  matter  of 
course  that  they  who  have  been  baptized  are  living 
up  to  their  profession.  They  will  hardly  allow  them- 
selves to  imagine  that  those  for  whom  God  has  done 
such  great  things, — forgiving  them  their  sins,  making 
them  His  own  children  by  adoption,  and  translating 
them  into  the  kingdom  of  His  dear  Son,  would  be  so 
ungrateful,  not  to  say  so  insane,  as  to  make  light  of 
their  privileges,  and  imagine  they  might  go  on  after 
Baptism,  as  they  had  done  while  still  heathens.  The 
Apostles  addressed  those  to  whom  they  wrote  as 
"  Saints,"  as  "sanctified  in  Christ  Jesus,"  as  "elect," 
as  "  washed,  and  sanctified,  and  justified  ;"  as  if,  in 
short,  they  were  serving  God  both  in  body  and  soiil, 
and  as  if  they  had  altogether  renounced  the  devil,  the 
world,  and  the  flesh,  in  consequence  of  their  adoption 
in  God. 

And  it  is  upon  this  ground  that  the  Apostles  exhort 
their  converts  to  continued  exertion.  "Ye  were  some- 
times darkness,  but  now  are  ye  light  in  the  Lord  : 
walk  as  children  of  light."     "  Remember  that  ye  in 

time  past were  without  Christ,  being  aliens  from 

the  commonwealth  of  Israel,  and  strangers  from  tl  e 
covenant  of  promise,  having  no  hope,  and  without 
God  in  the  world.     But  now  in  Christ  Jesus,  ye  who 
16 


178  .  -ON    SPIRITUAL-MINDEDNESS. 

sometimes  were  far  off  are  made  nigh  by  the  blood 

of  Christ I,  therefore, . . .  beseech  you  that  ye 

walk  worthy  of  the  vocation  wherewith  ye  are  called." 
*'  Ye  are  a  chosen  generation,  a  royal  priesthood,  an 
holy  nation,  a  peculiar  people  ;  that  ye  should  show 
forth  the  praises  of  Him  Who  hath  called  you  out  of 
darkness  into  His  marvellous  hght :  which  in  time 
past  were  not  a  people,  but  are  now  the  people  of 
God  :  which  had  not  obtained  mercy,  but  now  have 
obtained  mercy."  "  We  ourselves  were  sometimes 
foohsh,  disobedient,  deceived,  serving  divers  lusts  and 
pleasures,  living  in  malice  and  envy,  hateful  and 
hating  one  another.  But  after  that  the  kindness  and 
love  of  God  our  Saviour  toward  man  appeared,  not 
by  works  of  righteousness  which  we  have  done,  but 
according  to  His  mercy  He  saved  us,  by  the  washing 
of  regeneration  and  renewing  of  the  Holy  Ghost ; 
Which  He  shed  on  us  abundantly  through  Jesus 
Christ  our  Saviour  ;  that  being  justiiied  by  His  grace, 
we  should  be  made  heirs  according  to  the  hope  of 
eternal  life.  This  is  a  faithful  saying,  and  these 
things  I  will  that  thou  affirm  constantly,  that  they 
which  have  believed  in  God,  miglit  be  careful  to 
maintain  good  works." 

Now  it  is  quite  evident  from  all  these  passages 
(and  many  others  might  be  adduced)  first,  that  the 
carnal  mind  is  death  ;  and  secondly,  that  it  was  not  a 


ox    SPIRITUAL-MINDEDNESS.  179 

tiling  to  be  suppose!  by  the  Apostles,  that  they  who 
by  the  washing  of  regeneration,  and  renewing  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  had  been  put  in  a  state  of  salvation 
would  be  other  than  spiritually  minded. 

But  how  was  so  great  a  change  to  be  elTected  in 
the  souls  of  believers?  Does  Baptism  act  like  a 
charm?  Will  the  mere  sprinkling  of  water,  accom- 
panied by  the  words  of  the  Priest,  change  the  whole 
inward  disposition  so  that  the  works  of  the  flesh  shall 
be  instantaneously  superseded  by  the  fruits  of  the 
spirit ;  and  uncleanness,  idolatry,  envyings,  murders, 
drunkenness  and  such  like,  give  place  at  once  to 
^' love,  joy,  peace,  long-suffering,  gentleness,  goodness, 
faith,  meekness,  temperance?" 

Assuredly  not.  St.  Paul  says  expressly  that  "the 
carnal  mind  is  enmity  against  God,  for  it  is  not  subject 
to  the  law  of  God,  nor  indeed  can  be ;"  and  he  tells 
the  Galatians  that  "  the  flesh  lusteth  against  the  spirit 
and  the  spirit  against  the  flesh ;  and  these  are 
contrary  the  one  to  the  other ;  so  that  ye  cannot  do  the 
thmgs  that  ye  would."  St.  Peter  likewise  admon- 
ishes the  Christians  to  whom  he  writes  "  to  abstain 
from  fleshly  lusts  which  war  against  the  soul ;"  and 
St.  James  says  "  every  man  is  tempted  when  he  is 
drawn  away  of  his  own  lust,  and  enticed."  Thus  it 
is  evident,  to  use  the  language  of  our  articles,  that  the 
^s  fection  of  our  nature  doth  remain  in  them  that  are 


180  ON    SPIRITUAL-MINDEDNESS. 

regenerate,  whereby  the  hist  of  the  flesh,  or  the  carnal 
mind  is  not  subject  to  the  law  of  God.  Baptism, 
therefore,  does  not  in  itself  make  ns  spiritually-mind- 
ed, but  only  pledges  us  to  become  so,  puts  us  in  the 
way  of  becoming  so,  and  helps  us  to  become  so.  Our 
original  incapacities  are  removed  thereby,  and  we 
have  the  promise  of  such  grace  as  may  enable  us  to 
battle  elTectually  with  our  indwelling  corruption. 
Corruption  dwells  in  us  in  spite  of  Baptism ;  but  by 
Baptism  another  tenant  is  admitted  into  our  hearts ; 
there  He  makes  His  Temple,  and  thence,  if  we  do  not 
resist  Him,  He  will  expel  the  original  occupant. 
"When  a  strong  man  armed  keepeth  his  palace,  his 
goods  are  in  peace :  but  when  a  stronger  than  he 
shall  come  upon  him  and  overcome  him,  he  taketh 
from  him  all  his  armour  wherein  he  trusted,  and 
divideth  his  spoils." 

It  appears  then,  on  the  whole,  that  though,  as 
bnptized  Christians,  we  engage  ourselves  to  cease 
from  "the  minding  of  the  flesh,"  and  to  mind  the 
things  of  the  spirit,  the  flesh  is  still  strong  within  us 
to  seduce,  and  the  difficulties  of  becoming  spiritual- 
minded  are  so  great,  that  in  our  own  strength  we 
cannot  attain  unto  it :  yet  that,  nevertheless,  to  be 
carnally-minded  is  death,  but  to  be  spiritually-minded 
is  life  and  peace.  It  is  at  least  worth  while,  there- 
fore^ to  aim  at  a  spiritual  mind. 


ON    SPIRITUAL-MINDEDNESS.  181 

How  comes  it,  thv'^n,  that  so  many  Christians 
appear  to  make  no  exertions  to  become  spiritually- 
minded,  or,  at  any  rate,  act  as  though  they  considered 
it  rather  a  quahty  to  be  sought  after  when  many 
other  Christian  graces  were  attained,  than  one  which 
should  pervade  and  characterize  their  whole  ex- 
istence ? 

I  fear  the  answer  to  this  question  is  to  be  found  in 
the  indifference  with  which  persons  are  apt  to  look 
on  their  Baptismal  vows.  Because  God  in  His 
mercy  does  not  refuse  His  grace  and  forgiveness  to 
those  who  have  fallen  into  wilful  sin  after  Baptism, 
therefore,  men  have  come  to  look  on  it  as  a  matter  of 
comparative  indifference  whether  they  break  their 
baptismal  engagements  or  no.  They  despair  of 
keeping  them  unbroken  to  their  lives'  end,  and  there- 
fore, make  little  exertion  to  keep  them  at  all,  forget- 
ting all  the  while,  that  they  who  sin  in  defiance  of 
Hght,  and  warnings,  and  promises  made  and  ratified, 
can  hardly  expect  as  ready  a  forgiveness  as  those  who 
sinned  before  they  were  brought  under  the  law. 
Surely  the  Judge  of  all  the  earth  will  do  right,  and 
draw  a  broad  line  of  distinction  between  sins  of 
ignorance  and  sins  of  presumption.  Would  that  men 
would  think  more  of  this,  and  while  they  gratefully 
acknowledge  that  the  Blood  of  Christ  cleanseth  from 
IG* 


182  ON   SPIRITUAL  MINDEDNESS. 

all  sin,  be  less  ready  to  follow  the  ways  of  the  multi- 
tude, and  to  think  lightly  of  sin  after  Baptism  ! 

And  now  let  us  consider  wherein  spiritual-minded- 
ness  consists,  and  what  aids  we  all  have  towards 
attaining  it. 

I  would  describe  spiritual-mindedness,  then,  as 
consisting  in  a  following  of  God's  will  instead  of  our 
own,  as  a  subjection  of  the  body  to  the  spirit,  a 
deliberate  seeking  after  things  eternal  instead  of 
things  temporal,  and  this,  under  all  the  circumstances 
of  our  daily  life.  He  who  is  spiritual-minded  will 
be  a  man  of  prayer,  for  pra^^er  alone  can  fix  his 
thoughts  on  the  world  unseen.  He  will  live  in  habits 
of  self-denial,  for  not  otherwise  will  he  gain  the 
mastery  over  those  fleshly  lusts  and  appetites  which 
war  against  the  soul.  He  will  cultivate  a  temper  of 
awe  and  reverence  for  holy  things,  as  knowing  that 
irreverence  is  the  first  step  to  unbelief  He  will  be 
diligent  in  self-examination,  that  so  earthly  things 
may  gain  no  unsuspected  hold  over  his  afl:ections. 
He  will  be  very  careful  whom  he  selects  for  his  com- 
panions and  famiUar  friends,  lest  evil  communications, 
or  intercourse  with  worldly-minded  persons  should 
have  the  effect  of  entangling  him  with  the  cares  and 
pleasures  of  life,  or  lowering  that  standard  of  per- 
fection at  which  he  is  aiming.  He  will  never  be 
anxious  to  ^pcak  much  openly  on  subjects  connected 


ON    SPIRITUAL-MINDEDNESS.  1S3 

with  religion,  as  knowing  the  danger  to  himself  lest 
his  professions  should  outrun  his  performances,  and 
the  danger  to  others,  lest,  from  his  example,  they 
should  get  into  a  careless  way  of  speaking  of  holy 
things.  His  light  will  shine  before  men,  because 
they  who  watch  him  will  see  that  he  is  diligently 
discharging  the  duties  of  that  state  of  life  to  which  it 
has  pleased  God  to  call  him ;  but  there  will  be  no 
ostentation  or  display  :  rather  he  will  live  in  his  own 
thoughts,  and  be  so  cautious  of  exposing  them  to 
that  world  which  he  has  renounced,  that  to  casual 
observers  there  will  seem  nothing  peculiar  about 
liim.  The  great  mass  of  Christians,  it  is  to  be  feared, 
owe  what  they  have  of  religion  to  accident  rather 
than  to  any  other  cause.  They  do  certain  things 
because  it  is  the  way  of  the  world  to  do  them ;  they 
abstain  from  others  because  the  habits  of  society 
seem  to  require  it.  Convenience,  expedience,  per- 
sonal gratification,  an  unwillingness  to  be  singular, 
— these  are  the  motives  which  apparently  influence 
them.  The  Gospel  has  no  hold  upon  them  person 
ally.  If  they  are  the  better  for  it,  they  are  only  so 
mediately ;  what  they  do  is  done  in  imitation  of 
others,]  and  out  of  mere  habit.  But  the  spiritual 
minded  man  acts  upon  jjrinciple.  God's  law  is  the 
rule  of  his  daily  life,  and  that  by  which  he  tests  all 
things.     His  actions  are  done  as  in  God's  presence  ; 


184  ON    SPIRITUAL-MINDEDNESS. 

when  he  speaks  he  remembers  that  angels  are  listen- 
ing. He  never  allows  himself  to  think  that  anything 
which  he  does  is  trivial  or  of  no  consequence.  There 
is  a  right  and  a  wrong  way  of  doing  every  thing. 
Every  thing  may  be  done  either  to  the  honour  or  the 
dishonour  of  God.  Accordingly,  he  tries  to  keep  this 
thought  before  him,  not  only  when  matters  of  im- 
portance are  to  be  decided,  but  amid  the  little  details 
of  every-day  life.  He  endeavours  to  carry  out  in  his 
practice  the  duty  which  the  Catechism  has  taught 
him,  that  he  should  love  God  with  all  his  heart,  and 
mind,  and  soul,  and  strength,  that  he  should  worship 
Him,  and  give  Him  thanks,  and  put  his  whole  trust 
in  Him,  should  call  upon  Him,  should  honour  His 
holy  name,  a«d  His  word,  and  serve  Him  ty^uly,  all 
the  days  of  his  life.  To  the  spiritual-minded  man, 
God  will  be  every  thing,  and  the  world  nothing.  In 
the  active  occupations  of  life,  he  will,  with  the 
Psalmist,  '^set  God  always  before  him,''  that  so  he 
may  be  preserved  from  being  ensnared  by  the  world. 
And  when  his  thoughts  are  withdrawn  from  his 
necessary  engagements  they  will  at  once  fall  back 
upon  religion,  as  upon  the  thing  on  which  they  are 
centered. 

And  now,  brethren,  as  to  the  aids  which  we  all 
have  towards  attaining  such  a  disposition  of  mind  as 
we  are  assured  by  the  Word  of  God  is  "  life  and 


ON    SPIRITUAL-MINDEDNESS.  185 

peace/^  but  which  we  know,  by  our  own  experience, 
(as  many  of  us  as  are  in  earnest)  is  most  diflicult  to 
be  attained. 

The  first  and  chieftest  aid  is  that  of  God  the  Holy 
Ghost,  Who  was  given  us  in  our  Baptism,  and 
Whose  office  it  is  to  enlighten  us,  to  bring  all-  things 
to  our  remembrance,  and  to  strengthen  us  to  do 
God's  will,  and  keep  our  vows.  He  dwelleth  in  us. 
He  is  ever  ready  to  assist  us.  He  puts  into  our  minds 
good  desires,  and  gives  us  grace  to  bring  them  to 
good  effect.  He  cleanses,  and  purifies  the  heart. 
He  converts  us  where  we  need  a  change  :  He  renews 
us  where  any  thing  has  been  decayed  by  the  fraud 
and  malice  of  the  devil,  or  by  our  own  carnal  will  and 
frailness.  How  diligently,  therefore,  should  we  listen 
for  His  voice,  how  carefully  should  we  attend  to  it 
when  heard  !  how  watchful  should  we  be  lest  by 
thought,  or  word,  or  action,  we  should  grieve  Him, 
or  quench  the  fire  which  he  has  kindled  within  us ! 
How  earnestly  should  we  pray  Him  to  abide  in  us 
continually,  to  give  us  tender  consciences,  to  give  us 
hearts  of  flesh,  and  remove  our  hearts  of  stone,  to 
enable  us  to  see  Him  Who  is  invisible,  and  to  live 
for  things  eternal. 

The  next  great  aid  which  has  been  provided  for 
those  who  are  aiming  at  spiritual-mindedness,  is  to 
be  found  in  the  privileges  which  the  Church  offers  rrs. 
The  object  of  her  whole  system  is  to  take  us  out  of 


18G  ON    SPIRITUAL-MINDEDNESS. 

the  world,  even  while  we  are  living  in  it.  Her  ordi- 
nances, so  spiritual  in  their  nature,  so  powerfully 
calculated  to  help  us  to  realize  things  unseen,  and  so 
continually  recurring,  are,  if  only  used  rightly,  (that 
is,  without  formalism  or  hypocrisy)  the  things  of  all 
others  to  root  out  the  carnal  mind,  and  give  us  the 
mind  of  Christ.  As  she  sees  Christ  in  all  things,  so 
she  will  lead  us  to  do  the  same.  With  her  daily 
round  of  prayer  and  praise  she  would  prepare  us, 
while  still  on  earth,  for  the  never-ending  services  of 
heaven,  and  the  unceasing  adoration  of  her  Lord. 
With  her  Fasts  she  will  teach  us  to  die  with  Him  to 
things  temporal ;  with  her  Feasts  she  will  bid  us  lift 
up  our  hearts  to  that  kingdom  where  all  is  "  life  and 
peace."  With  her  Holy  Sacraments  she  gives  us 
blessings  so  awful,  that  the  very  thought  of  them 
ought  to  urge  us  to  strive  after  the  grace  of  spiritual- 
mindedness,  since  even  to  speak  of  them  without  it 
were  a  heinous  transgression. 

Other  aids  to  this  most  necessary  grace  there  are, 
on  which,  after  what  I  have  already  said,  I  need  not 
dwell  particularly.  Prayer,  watchfulness,  self-denial, 
meditation,  are  among  the  chief  of  them.  Others 
will  suggest  themselves  to  your  thoughts.  And  so 
with  one  observation  I  will  conclude ; "  To  be  carnally- 
minded  is  death,  to  be  spiritually-minded  is  life  and 
peace."  Here,  then,  life  and  death  are  set  before 
you.     And  you  have,  each  of  you,  in  the  face  of  God 


ON    SPIRTTUAL-:\rTNDEDNESS.  1S7 

and  the  congregation,  chosen  life.  On  the  strength 
of  that  choice  3^011  were  made  menihers  of  Christ, 
children  of  God,  and  heirs  of  heaven.  Are  you  walk- 
ing worthy  of  your  vocation  ?  If  you  are  carnal- 
minded,  you  are  not.  Yonr  only  chance  of  salvation 
is  in  acquiring  tlie  grace  of  spiritual-mindedness.  But 
the  time  is  short.  See  then  that  you  set  about  your 
duty  to-day.     To-morrow  it  may  be  too  late. 

If,  on  the  other  hand,  you  have  the  honest  testi- 
mony of  conscience  within,  that  you  have  made  some 
progress  towards  the  attainment  of  the  spiritual 
mind,  3^ou  may  talce  to  yourselves  the  comfortable 
assurance  that  you  are  in  the  way  of  life  and  peace,* 

*  St.  Augustin,  in  Joann.  v.  24.  "  In  hac  vita  transitur  a  morte 
ad  vitam ;  in  hac  vita  quae  nondura  est  vita,  hinc  transitur  a 
morte  ad  vitam.  Quis  est  ille  transitus  1  Qui  audit  verba  men, 
dixit,  et  credit  ei  qui  misit  ine.     Servans  ista  credis,  et  transis  .  .  . 

"  Audi  Apostolum  dicentem  ad  Timotheum,  Prcecipe  divitibus 
hiijus  smculi,  non  sitperbe  sapere,  neque  sperare  in  incerto  divitiarum,sed 

in  Deo  vivo,  qui  prcBstat  nobis  omnia  abundanter  ad  fruendum 

Thcsaurizent  sibi  fundamentum  bonum  in  futunan,  ut  apprchendant 
veram  vitam.  Si  debent  ihesaurizare,  ut  apprehendant  veram 
vitam,  profecta  ista,  in  qua  erant,  falsa  vita  est.  Apprehendenda 
est  vera;  migrandum  est  a  falsa.  Et  qua  migrandum  ?  quo'? 
Audi.     Crede  ;  et  transitum  facis  a  morte  ad  vitam. 

Id  de  Continenlia  c.  7.  "Pax  perfecia  tunc  erit  nobis,  quando 
natura  nostra  Creatori  suo  insepaiabiliter  cohcerente,  nihil  nobis 
repugnabit  ex  nobis." 


ISS  ON    SPIRITUAL-MINDEDNESS. 

you  are  gradually  passing  from  death  unto  life,  from 
that  livuig  death  which  is  man's  condition  in  this 
world,  to  the  true  life  of  the  soul ;  you  are  beginning 
to  taste  of  that  peace  which  the  world  can  neither 
give  nor  take  away  ;  of  that  peace  which  is  only  found 
where  man  identifies  his  own  will  with  that  of  God, 
where  the  flesh  is  subdued  to  the  spirit,  and  where 
the  creature  is  endeavouring  to  mould  and  fashion 
himself  in  all  things  as  may  be  most  pleasing  to  the 
Creator.  I  do  not  say  that  as  yet  you  will  attain  to 
X\\Q  fulness  of  life  and  peace;  for  past  transgression, 
and  present  imperfections  will  render  that  impossible: 
but  you  will  at  least  have  tasted  that  the  Lord  is 
gracious,  you  will  have  judged  by  actual  experience 
of  that  which  He  has  in  store  for  them  that  love  Him. 
And  hence  you  will  have  a  source  of  comfort  stronger 
than  any  other  which  the  world  can  offer  you,  for  it 
is  a  growing  comfort, — one  which  will  wax  stronger 
and  stronger  continually,  the  further  you  advance  in 
the  path  you  have  chosen. 

May  that  comfort  be  yours,  my  brethren,  in  all 
time  of  your  tribulation,  in  all  time  of  your  wealth, 
in  the  hour  of  death,  and  in  the  day  of  judgment? 

S.  Ambros.  in  Luc.  Lib.  v.  "  A  te  pacem  incipe  ;  ut  cum  fueris 
ipse  pacificus,  pacem  aliis  feras." 

S.  Chrysosiom  in  Rom.  v.  L  npr^vYiv  Ix^iv-,  'tovto  fffn,  fxt[x(n 
rto^sjMV  Ttpoj  tbf  &e6v. 


SERMON  Xir. 

OBEDIENCE    TO     THE     CHURCH,    HER     MINISTERS,    AND 
ORDINANCES. 

Hebrews  xiii.  7,  8. 

Remember  them  which  have  the  rule  over  you,  who  have  spo- 
ken unto  you  the  Word  of  God  :  whose  faith  follow,  considering 
the  end  of  their  conversation :  Jesus  Christ  the  same  yesterday, 
to  day  and  for  ever. 

It  seems  to  be  the  opinion  of  some  of  the  most 
eminent  persons  who  have  left  us  their  commentaries 
on  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  that  St.  Paul  is  here 
referring  to  those  Pastors  or  Bishops  who  are  dead, 
— (having,  perhaps,  witnessed  a  good  confession,  and 
been  "  slain  for  the  Word  of  God,  and  the  testimony 
which  they  lield,") — and  not  to  the  living  rulers  of 
the  Hebrew  Church; — the  precepts  with  respect  to 
them,  being  given  afterwards,  in  the  seventeenth 
verse  of  the  chapter  before  us.  "Obey  them  that 
have  the  rule  over  you,  and  submit  yourselves;  for 
17 


190         OBEDIENCE  TO  THE  CHURCH, 

they  watch  for  your  souls  as  they  that  must  give 
accountj  that  they  may  do  it  with  joy,  and  not  with 
grief." 

If  this  be  a  true  view  of  the  case,  the  passage  I 
have  chosen  for  my  text  must  be  looked  upon  as  an 
exhortation  to  the  Hebrew  Christians  to  cherish  the 
remembrance  of  those  who,  in  times  past,  had 
preached  and  laboured  among  them ;  to  adhere  to 
the  doctrine  which  they  had  taught,  "  Jesus  Christ, 
the  same  yesterday,  to  day,  and  for  ever ;"  and  to 
stablish  themselves,  amid  their  trials,  by  the  recollec- 
tions of  the  exemplary  and  glorious  close  of  the  lives 
of  such  holy  men. 

Even  in  those  early  days  there  had  been  a  little 
band  who  had  not  ^*  counted  their  lives  dear  unto 
themselves,  that  so  they  might  finish  their  course 
with  joy,  and  the  ministry  which  they  had  received 
of  the  Lord  Jesus,  to  testify  the  gospel  of  the  grace 
of  God."  Such  had  been  holy  Stephen,  the  Proto- 
martyr  of  the  Church.  Such  was  James,  the  brother 
of  John,  whom  Herod  killed  with  the  sword.  Such 
was  Antipas,  the  "faithful  martyr"  of  Christ,  who 
was  slain  at  Pergamos,  and  such,  no  doubt,  were 
divers  others  whose  names  are  written  in  imperish- 
able characters  in  the  Book  of  Life,  though  the 
world  has  forgotten  them. 

Now  we,  who  live  in  these  last  times,  are  basking. 


HER    MINISTERS    AND    ORDINANCES.  191 

as  it  were,  in  the  full  blaze  of  those  luminaries 
which  cheer  and  enlighten  the  Church  of  God.  To 
us,  perhaps,  Christ  is  no  where  more  fully  revealed 
than  in  His  Saints  ;  no  where  have  we  such  evidence 
of  the  regenerating,  renewing,  invigorating,  sanctify- 
hig  power  of  the  grace  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  the  soul 
of  man.  To  us  the  glorious  company  of  the  Apostles, 
the  goodly  fellowship  of  the  Prophets,  the  blessed 
choir  of  pure  and  virgin  souls  who  have  kept  them- 
selves unspotted  from  the  world,  all  speak  one  lan- 
guage of  encouragement ;  they  cheer  us  on  to  live 
as  they  Uved,  to  love  as  they  loved,  to  serve  as  they 
served,  to  take  warning  by  their  errors,  to  follow 
them  as  they  followed  Christ. — We  are  compassed 
about  with  so  great  a  cloud  of  witnesses,  that  it  were 
shame  and  disgrace  unutterable  if  we  failed  to  run 
with  patience  the  race  that  is  set  before  us.  It  is 
indeed  one  of  our  highest  blessings  that  it  is  given  to 
us  to  look  back  upon  the  triumphs  of  those  Saints  of 
God  who  fought  a  good  fight,  and  kept  the  faith. 
And  in  proportion  as  we  value  this  source  of  consola- 
tion ourselves,  can  we  understand  how  encouraging 
to  the  Hebrews  would  be  that  exhortation  which  I 
have  chosen  for  my  text.  It  was  evident  (hat  the 
Church  was  no  longer  at  rest.  Persecution  lay  in 
the  way  of  all  who  endeavoured  to  live  godly  in 
Christ   Jesus.      They   who   went   forth   unto    Him 


192         OBEDIENCE  TO  THE  CHURCH, 

without  the  camp  must  needs  bear  his  reproacli. 
Difficulties  were  increasing,  perils  thickening,  hearts 
failing  Should  they  go,  or  should  they  not  go  ? 
They  were  honest  and  sincere,  hut  they  needed  some 
thought  to  inspirit  them  to  meet  the  assaults  of  the 
evil  cruel  world  ;  they  desired  some  assurance  that 
the  trial  to  which  they  were  exposed  was  not  more 
than  flesh  and  blood  had  already  felt.  What  com 
fort,  at  such  a  season,  to  be  reminded  of  those  who 
had  already  met  the  buifetings  of  the  storm,  and  had 
anchored  safely  in  the  everlasting  haven  !  "  Re- 
member them  which  have  "  had  "  the  rule  over  you, 
who,"  in  times  past,  '^have  spoken  unto  you  the 
Word  of  God  :  whose  faith  follow,  considering  the 
end  of  their  conversation,"  the  tenor  of  their  lives, 
and  the  termination  of  their  labours, — "Jesus  Christ, 
the  same  yesterday,  to  day,  and  for  ever." 

Now  I  might  very  well  take  occasion  from  these 
words  to  press  on  you  a  lesson  which  has  been  too 
much  forgotten  among  us,  though  I  trust  we  are 
beginning,  at  least  to  remember  it.  Of  course  I 
allude  to  the  manner  in  which  we  have  laid  aside 
the  recollection  of  those  who  were  our  fathers,  and 
who  ought  to  be  our  patterns  in  the  Faith.  There 
was  a  time  when  too.  much  was  thought  of  the  Saints 
departed.  They  were  honoured  with  an  honour 
which  I  fear  amounted  to  idolatry,  or  at  any  rate  to 


HER    MINISTERS    AND    ORDINANCES.  193 

something  most  sadly  like  it,  and  they  were  invoked 
as  if,  in  some  sense,  they  could  he  mediators  between 
ns  and  God.  These  were  grievous  errors.  But  the 
abuse  of  a  thing  ought  not  to  take  away  its  use  ;  and 
to  go  into  one  extreme  because  the  other  is  wrong  is 
no  proof  of  a  sound  judgment;  for  all  extremes  are 
bad.  Our  fathers  angered  God  by  giving  his  honour 
to  the  Saints.  It  is  likely  that  we  anger  Him,  by 
withholding  tlie  honour  which  He  would  have  us 
render  them ;  that,  namely,  of  remembering  how 
faithfully  they  served  their  Lord,  and  following  them 
in  their  unshrinking  devotion  to  the  object  of  their 
faith,  "  Jesus  Christ,  the  same  yesterday,  to  day,  and 
for  ever."  I  might,  therefore,  very  profitably  incul- 
cate upon  you  the  duty  of  meditating  much  and 
often  on  the  lives  of  those  holy  persons  who  are 
commemorated  in  the  services  of  our  Church  ;  and  I 
might  dwell  with  advantage  on  the  privilege  which 
has  thus  been  vouchsafed  us,  but  I  shall  rather  prefer, 
on  the  present  occasion,  to  direct  your  thoughts  to 
another  subject,  which  reflection  upon  the  text  will 
suggest ;  I  mean  the  disposition  of  those  persons  to 
whom  St.  Paul  addressed  his  exhortation.  The  very- 
form  of  that  exhortation  pre-supposes  that  they  to 
whom  it  was  addressed  were  persons  who  were 
willing  to  obey  the  Church,  Her  ministers,  and  Her 
ordinances,  as  being  to  them  the  representatives  of 
17* 


194  OBEDIENCE    TO    THE    CHURCH, 

Him,  Whom  having  not  seen  they  loved,  and  Whom, 
though  ascended  up  on  high,  they  knew  to  be  "  the 
same  yesterday,  to  day  and  forever."  I  propose, 
then,  to  make  some  observations  on  this  spirit  of 
Avilling  obedience. 

And  first  let  me  observe  that  obedience  is  due  to 
the  Church  upon  the  same  grounds  on  which  it  is 
due  to  God  Himself.  To  obey  that  which  He 
desires  us  to  obe}',  is  in  fact  to  obey  Him.  His  two 
most  precious  gifts  to  man  are  the  Bible  and  the 
Church  ;  and  these  two  gifts  are  so  intimately  con- 
nected with  each  other,  and  so  thorouglily  intended 
to  be  used  in  conjunction,  that  the  one  whhout  the 
other,  would  be,  comparatively  speaking,  valueless. 
The  Church  without  the  Bible,  would  be  the  world 
without  the  sun ;  the  Bible  without  the  Church, 
would  be  as  the  sun  shining  in  empty  space,  with  no 
planets  travelling  round  it,  to  be  warmed  by  its  heat, 
and  lightened  with  its  rays.  God  has  given  us  the 
Holy  Bible  for  the  purpose  of  making  his  will  known 
to  man,  of  teaching  us  where  to  look  for  the  means 
of  grace,  and  of  leading  us  forward  by  inspiring  us 
with  the  hopes  of  glory. — God  has  given  us  His 
Holy  Church  to  instruct  us  in  the  sound  knowledge 
of  Scripture,  and  to  guide  our  steps  according  to  His 
revealed  will.  The  Church  teaches  us  how  to  carry 
out  into  practice,  what  is  written  hi   the  Bib'c ;  it 


HER    MINISTERS    AND    ORDINANCES.  195 

assists  God's  servants  to  walk  sincerely  in  the  faith 
of  Jesus  Christ,  and  live  to  the  glory  of  God  the 
Father.  The  Church  is  the  appointed  means  through 
which  we  are  hrought  into  covenant  with  God.  To 
the  Church's  keeping  are  intrusted  the  blessed  Sacra- 
ments, and  the  ordinances  of  religion.  To  the  Church 
is  committed  the  keeping  up  the  three-fold  order  of 
the  JNlinistry,  the  only  channel  through  which  we 
can  be  quite  sure  that  the  grace  of  the  sacraments  is 
conveyed  to  those  who  receive  them.  Thus  tlie 
Bible  and  the  Church  together  contribute  mutually 
to  the  work  of  God  in  the  soul  of  man. 

But,  it  may  be  asked,  since  the  Bible  and  the 
Church  seem  to  have  so  prominent  a  part  assigned 
tliem,  is  there  no  danger  lest  men  should  put  the 
Bible,  or  the  Church,  in  the  place  of  the  Saviour? 
To  this  I  reply  that  there  is  such  a  danger  ; — a  very 
serious  one,  as  experience  has  shown,  and  such  as  it 
behoves  us  to  guard  ourselves  against.  The  Bible 
and  the  Church  are  liable  to  abuse  in  common  with 
everything  else  that  is  most  valuable.  Where  is  the 
gift  of  God  which  man  has  not,  or  may  not  turn  to 
his  own  destruction  ?  There  have  been  those,  before 
now,  who  have  made  outward  forms,  and  their  trust 
in  Church  privileges,  a  substitute  for  inward  piety, 
even  as  there  have  been  those  whose  boast  of  Bible 
knowledge,  and  self-confident  reliance  on  their  own 


196         OBEDIENCE  TO  THE  CHURCH, 

private  judgment  in  expounding  Scripture,  have  led 
them  far  away  from  Scripture-truth,  and  Scripture- 
hoUness.  The  more  good  there  may  be  in  the  right 
use  of  a  thing,  the  more  may  be  its  evil  when 
perverted.  The  Bible  and  the  Church,  are,  as  I  have 
already  said,  two  of  God's  choicest  gifts  to  man,  and 
yet  man  may  make  either  the  one  or  the  other  the 
subject  of  an  idolatry  as  portentous  as  he  ever  has 
exhibited  towards  his  money  or  his  pleasure ;  he 
ma}^,  through  the  one  or  the  other,  defraud  Him  of 
His  honour.  Who  hath  expressly  proclaimed  Himself 
to  be  B.  jealous  God. 

But  what  preservative  is  there  against  so  great  an 
offence?  I  reply  that  so  long  as  we  do  not  unduly 
exalt  the  one  over  the  other,  or  use  one  to  the 
exclusion  of  the  other, — the  Bible  without  the  Church, 
or  the  Church  without  the  Bible, — so  long  as  we  give 
to  each  the  relative  importance,  and  maintain  each 
in  the  relative  position  which  God  has  assigned  to 
them,  we  shall  do  well,  and  be  safe  from  danger.  He 
who  uses  his  Bible  rightly  will  never  put  the  Church 
in  place  of  the  Saviour  :  he  who  submits  himself  to 
the  Church's  guidance  will  never  even  unconsciously, 
put  his  own  private  sense  of  the  Bible  in  place  of  the 
Saviour.  He  will  test  what  the  Church  teaches  him 
by  the  Bible  ;  he  will  be  guided  amid  the  difficulties 
of  Scripture  by  learning  what  the  universal  testimony 


HER    MINISTERS,    AND    ORDINANCES.  197 

of  (he  Churclij  (always,  in  all  places,  and  by  common 
consent,)  has  been  concerning  them. — And  thus  both 
the  Church  and  the  Bible  will  lead  him  to  the  truth 
as  it  is  in  Jesus.  Together  tliey  will  take  him  by  the 
hand,  and  lead  liim  to  "Jesus  Christ,  tlie  same 
yesterday,  to-day  and  forever." — The  Bible  will  set 
before  him  continually,  Who  it  is  that  is  the  Way, 
the  Truth,  and  the  Life  ;  the  Church,  no  less  con- 
tinually, leads  him  through  outward  ordinances  and 
allegories  to  Him  that  is  within  the  veil,  she  brings 
him  to  the  House  of  God,  which  is  none  other  than 
the  gate  of  heaven,  puts  into  his  mouth  the  words  of 
prayer  and  praise,  and  gives  him  the  blessings  of  an 
apostolical  ministry  to  instruct,  admonish,  and  comfort 
him. 

In  all  things  she  speaks  of  Christ. — From  Him,  as 
from  a  fountain  of  living  waters,  all  her  teaching 
emanates :  to  Him,  as  to  its  Object  and  its  End,  it  all 
returns.  He  is  all  in  all.  When  we  have  Him  we 
have  all  things,  v/e  are  full,  we  abound,  yea,  are 
complete  in  Him. 

And  see  how  the  Church  carries  out  this  thought 
in  all  her  public  services.  Examine  the  construction 
of  her  form  of  Morning  and  Evening  Prayer.  Is  it 
not  so  arranged  that  every  part  speaks  of  Him  ?  that 
He  is,  as  it  were,  the  one  idea  which  pervades  the 
whole,  that  which  gives  to  the  whole  its  tone  and 


198        OBEDIENCE  TO  THE  CHURCHj 

colouring  ?  Is  not  every  prayer  offered  in  His  name, 
and  on  the  plea  of  His  merits  and  prevailing  inter- 
cession ?  Is  not  the  voice  of  thanksgiving  raised  to 
its  highest  fervency,  when  it  offers  its  praise  ''■above 
all,  for  the  redemption  of  the  world  by  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ?"  Are  not  the  Psalms, the  Lessons, the 
Epistles,  the  Gospels  full  of  Him?  Is  there  any 
one  brought  more  prominently  forward  than  He,  in 
that  course  of  daily  service,  which  in  theory  at  least, 
(and  oh  !  that  it  were  in  universal  practice  !)  the 
Church  offers  from  one  week's  end  to  the  other,  year 
by  year  continually.  Does  she  not  desire  to  make 
lier  unceasing  worship  harmonize  with  the  attribute 
of  Him  whom  she  w^orships,  and  who  is '4he  same 
yesterday,  to-day,  and  for  ever?" 

Again,  look  at  that  sacred  calendar  of  the  Church's 
year,  and  say  whether  it  be  not  full  of  Christ  ?  In 
Advent,  she  reminds  us  of  His  first  coming,  and 
exhorts  to  prepare  for  His  second.  At  Christmas 
she  sets  before  us  the  circumstances  of  His  Birth  ;  at 
Epiphany  of  His  manifestation  to  us  Gentiles.  Then, 
Sunday  after  Sunday,  she  exhibits  Him  in  His  child- 
hood and  youth,  till  Lent  brings  us  to  His  temptation. 
For  forty  days  we  pass  with  Him  a  season  of  mor- 
tification and  deepening- gloom,  till  at  length  we 
approach  the  ineffable  mysteries  of  His  agony,  and 
bloody  sweat,  His  cross  and  passion,  His  precious 


HER    MINISTERS,    AND    ORDINANCES.  109 

death  and  burial.  Then  burst  upon  us  tlie  splendours 
of  His  triumph.  His  glorious  resurrection,  and  no  less 
glorious  ascension.  Tlien,  after  that,  comes  the  calm 
repose  of  the  Sundays  after  Trinity,  in  which  half  a 
year  is  given  us  to  contemplate  at  leisure  His  doc- 
trine, and  the  subordinate  events  of  His  life;  while 
all  the  while,  each  Friday  as  it  passes,  brings  before 
us,  as  a  day  of  humiliation,  the  recollection  of  His 
Cross,  and  every  Sunday  that  dawns,  brings  with  it 
a  weekly  commemoration  of  His  triumph  over  death 
and  hell.  Nor  is  this  all ;  for,  interspersed  throughout 
the  Sacred  year.  He  is  brought  before  our  minds 
again  and  again  in  the  history  of  those  Saints  of  His, 
who  adorned  His  doctrine  in  all  things,  and  shed 
their  blood  in  testimony  of  His  truth  ;  and  on  that 
account  are  remembered  in  those  anniversaries  in 
which  God  is  thanked  for  the  hght  and  comfort  of 
their  example. 

Finally,  look  at  the  occasional  services  of  the 
Church,  and  say  whether  they  too  be  not  full  of 
Christ, — First  and  foremost  are  the  sacraments  of 
His  own  institution ;  wherein  at  Baptism  our  infants 
die  and  are  buried  with  Him,  and  rise  again  with 
Him  to  newness  of  life, — with  His  Cross  signed  on 
their  foreheads,  and  pledged  that  they  will  continue 
His  soldiers  and  servants  \mto  their  lives'  end  :  and 
next  there  is  the  Holy  Eucharist,  the  commemorative 


200  OBEDIENCE    TO    THE    CHURCH,. 

sacrifice  of  His  death,  in  which,  by  an  unspeakable 
mystery,  His  Body  and  His  Blood  are  verily  and 
indeed  communicated  to  the  souls  of  the  faithful. 
And  so  in  the  other  rites  and  ceremonies  of  the 
Church,  Christ  is  visibly  set  forth  before  His  people 
continually.  In  holy  matrimony  we  are  reminded  of 
"  the  mystical  union  which  is  betwixt  Christ  and  His 
Church  :"  in  the  visitation  of  the  sick,  the  privilege  of 
suffering  with  Him  is  set  before  us :  and  in  the  burial 
of  the  dead.  He  Himself  meets  us  with  the  consoling 
assurance,  "  I  am  the  resurrection  and  the  life.  He 
that  believeth  in  Me,  though  he  were  dead  yet  shall 
he  live,  and  whosoever  liveth  and  believeth  in  Me 
shall  never  die." 

Surely,  brethren,  the  Church  does  not  exalt  lierself 
into  the  Saviour's  place.  Surely  there  is  no  danger 
that  they  who  teach  as  she  teaches  should  put  the 
Church  in  the  place  of  the  Saviour.  If  they  claim 
obedience  to  her,  it  is  because  they  are  persuaded 
that  out  of  her  is  no  safety.  If  they  lay  stress 
upon  a  careful  attention  to  her  ordinances,  it  is  be- 
cause they  know  that  He  Whom  those  ordinances 
bring  before  us  is  "Jesus  Christ,  the  same  yesterday, 
to-day,  and  for  ever." 

But,  brethren,  the  text  teaches  us  that  more  is  re- 
quired of  us  than  obedience  to  the  Church  and  her 
ordinances.     It  is  expected  of  us  that  we  show  a 


HEP.    MINISTERS,    AND    ORDINANCES.  201 

willing  respect  and  submission  to  the  Ministers  of 
the  Church.  "  Remember  them  which  have  the 
rule  over  you,  who  have  spoken  unto  you  the  Word 
of  God:  whose  faith  follow."  ''Obey  them  that 
have  the  rule  over  you,  and  submit  yourselves  :  for 
they  watch  for  your  souls  as  they  that  must  give 
account."  So  again,  "  We  beseech  you,  brethren,  to 
know  them  which  labour  among  you,  and  are  over 
you  in  the  Lord,  and  admonish  you ;  and  to  esteem 
them  very  highly  for  their  work's  sake."  These,  and 
similar  passages  of  Scripture,  which  might  be  mul- 
tiplied to  a  considerable  extent,  show  us  very  clearly 
that,  if  the  minister  of  Christ  has  duties  towards  the 
flock  committed  to  his  trust,  the  flock  has  likewise  its 
minister.  And  this  is  a  truth  which  is  sadly  forgot- 
ten, or  kept  out  of  sight  at  the  present  day.  If  a 
clergyman  neglects  his  flock,  it  is  (as  it  ought  to  be) 
a  scandal  and  a  reproach,  and  the  rumour  of  it  will 
spread  indignation  from  one  side  of  the  country  to 
(he  other,  and  be  a  fruUful  topic  of  declamation  for 
the  uncharitable  and  disafl*ected.  But  who  ever 
hears  a  word  of  reproach  against  those  who  neglect 
all  their  duties  to  their  appointed  minister?  Is  the 
voice  of  public  indignation  loud  against  those  who 
never  pray  for  him,  who  show  him  no  outward 
tokens  of  respect,  who  are  oflended  at  his  godly 
admonitions,  who  thwart  him  whenever  they  can, 
18 


202         OBEDIENCE  TO  THE  CHURCH, 

and  are  not  afraid  to  calumniate  him  and  speak  evil 
of  him  falsely  ?  One  reason  of  this  is,  that  they  who 
thus  transgress  God's  law  have  numbers  on  their 
side,  and  the  world  is  strong  and  powerful  to  silence 
the  voice  of  unpalatable  truth.  But  another  reason 
may  be  found  in  those  natural  feelings  of  delicacy 
which  have  prevented  the  Clergy  from  speaking  of 
their  own  claims,  and  so  those  claims  have  been  in  a 
great  measure  forgotten.  It  is  always  painful  to 
humble-minded  persons  to  speak  of  themselves  or  to 
magnify  their  office,  and  still  more  so,  under  circum- 
stances in  which  they  feel  they  may  be  charged  with 
desiring  to  become  "  lords  over  God's  heritage,"  and 
to  "have  dominion  over"  the  people's  "faith,"  even 
while  in  their  hearts  they  know  that  they  have  no 
disire  beyond  St.  Paul's,— "We  preach  not  ourselves, 
but  Christ  Jesus  the  Lord,  and  ourselves  your  ser- 
vants for  Jesus'  sake." 

However,  brethren,  our  office  is  to  declare  unto 
you  the  whole  counsel  of  God,  the  entire  circle  of 
your  duties.  And  therefore  it  is  an  error  that  we 
have  shrunk  from  claiming  for  ourselves  that  submis- 
sion and  obedience  from  you,  which  is  assuredly  our 
due  as  the  Priests  of  God,  however  unworthy  in 
ourselves. — Forgive  us  this  wrong. 

It  is  one  of  the  most  melancholy  circumstances  in 
the  present  crippled  state  of  the  Church,  that  many 


HER    MINISTERS,    AND    ORDINANCES.  203 

of  our  parishes  are  so  large  that  many  members  of 
the  flock  can  hardly  know  their  clergyman  by  face, 
and  therefore  no  such  intercourse  passes  between 
tlietn  as,  in  theory  at  least,  the  Church  intended. 
Let  those  among  us  who  have  the  privilege  of  min- 
isterial advice  and  instruction  prize  it,  and  profit  by 
it,  for  most  assuredly  they  will  be  judged  hereafter 
for  the  use  they  have  made  of  it. 

If  it  should  be  your  misfortune  to  have  one  set 
over  you  who  is  careless,  or  ignorant,  or  unfaithful, 
the  affliction  is  a  heavy  one  ;  but  take  heed  what  you 
do  ;  for  you  will  but  add  sin  to  sin,  if,  instead  of 
patiently  submitting  to  the  trial,  and  making  the 
most  of  the  means  within  your  reach,  and  humbling 
yourselves  under  the  chastisement,  you  make  your 
pastor's  errors  the  excuse  for  your  own  neglect  of 
weighty  duties,  and  betake  yourselves  to  irregular 
sources  of  instruction,  and  give  way  to  a  schismatical 
spirit.  The  way  to  meet  such  a  misfortune  is  with 
prayer,  and  humiliation. 

If,  on  the  other  hand,  (and  this  I  suppose  is  the 
case  with  almost  all)  it  has  pleased  God  to  set  over 
you  one  whose  heart  is  in  his  work,  then  I  most 
earnestly  intreat  you  to  reflect  how  exceeding  great 
will  be  your  future  punishment  if  you  fail  to  obey 
the  admonition  of  the  text.  Remember  him  who 
has  the  spiritual  rule  over  you,  and  whose  office  it  is 


204  OBEDIENCE    TO    THE    CHURCH, 

to  speak  to  you  the  word  of  God.  His  faith,  tested 
by  its  accordance  with  the  word  of  God,  and  the 
teaching  of  the  Church,  do  you  follow,  considering 
the  end  of  his  conversation,  Jesus  Christ,  the  same 
yesterday,  to-day,  and  for  ever.  He  comes  to  set 
before  you  that  Saviour  Whose  gracious  purposes  of 
mercy  to  you  have  been  from  everlasting.  Who  left 
His  Father's  glory  to  die  for  you,  and  returned  to  it 
to  intercede  for  you.  He  comes  to  set  before  you 
Christ  crucified,  and  to  teach  you  that  in  the  taking 
up  of  a  daily  cross,  and  in  the  crucifixion  of  all  your 
unruly  affections,  appetites,  and  tempers,  the  only 
true  following  of  Christ  consists.  Learn,  therefore, 
to  look  upon  your  appointed  minister  as  your  best 
and  truest  friend.  Seek  his  advice  and  guidance  in 
all  the  events  of  your  life.  Reverence  him  for  his 
Master's  sake,  and  try,  at  least,  to  love  him  for  his 
own.  Give  him  your  confidence  ;  open  your  griefs 
to  him ;  lay  bare  your  hearts  to  him,  their  scruples  and 
doubtfulness;  confess  your  sins  to  him,  (not,  of  course, 
as  though  he  could  forgive  them  in  his  own  individual 
capacity,  but  as  a  proof  of  your  own  sorrow  for  them, 
and)  that  so  you  may  receive  his  ghostly  advice,  and 
counsel,  and  the  comfortable  assurance  of  absolution 
from  God.  Receive  his  warnings  with  thankfulness, 
his  reproofs  with  lowliness  and  submission.     Even  if 


HER    MINISTERS,    AND    ORDINANCES.  205 

you  feel  them  to  be  unjust,  remember  that  they  were 
kindly  meant.     Work  with  him,  and  work  for  him. 

And  because  he  who  thus  watches  over  you  is 
a  sinner  like  yourselves,  full  of  infirmities,  and 
ignorances,  and  weaknesses ;  since  he  is  set  in  the 
midst  of  so  many  and  great  dangers,  and  has  the 
hardest  and  the  most  perilous  office  to  discharge 
which  is  assigned  to  man,  bear  with  him  and  forgive 
him  where  the  need  shall  be ;  take  heed  that  you  do 
not  add  to  his  anxieties,  and  increase  his  sorrows ; 
and  above  all  things,  pray  for  him, — pray  for  him 
fervently  and  unceasingly,  that  he  who  thus  preaches 
unto  others,  may  not  himself  prove  a  castaway. 


18* 


sp:r:>ion  xiii. 


ON    ALMSGIVING. 


Matthew  vi.  1 


"  Take  heed  that  ye  do  not  your  alms  before  men,  to  be  seen  of 
them  ;  otherwise  ye  have  no  reward  of  your  Father  which  is  in 
heaven." 

Every  reader  of  the  Gospels  must  have  observed 
that  the  sin  against  which  our  blessed  Lord  most 
frequently  warned  His  disciples,  and  those  who 
attended  His  preaching,  was  that  of  hypocrisy.  So 
frequently  were  certain  particular  classes  of  His 
countrymen  charged  with  this  offence,  that  the  very 
term  of  ^' Scribe"  or  "Pharisee"  is  almost  synony- 
mous in  our  minds  with  that  of  hypocrite.  The 
most  painful  pictures  are  set  before  us  of  the  conduct 
of  these  persons  ;  how  they  sounded  a  trumpet  before 
them  when  about  to  bestow  their  alms;  how  they 
stood  praying  in  the  corners  of  the  streets  in  order  to 
be  seen  of  men  ;  how,  for  a  pretence,  they  made  long 
prayers   even   while  they  v/ere  devouring  widows' 


208  ON    ALMSGIVING. 

houses;  how  the  matter  of  their  prayers  was  full  of 
a  spirit  of  exclusiveness  and  presumption :  how, 
when  they  fasted,  they  disfigured  their  faces  in  order 
to  attract  observation  ;  how  they  perverted  the  truth 
with  subtle  casuistry,  and  endeavoured  to  confound 
the  laws  of  right  and  wrong,  teaching  that  to  swear 
by  the  temple  was  nothing,  but  that  he  who  swore 
by  the  gold  of  the  temple  was  a  debtor ;  how,  under 
professions  of  religion,  they  excused  themselves  from 
supporting  their  parents  ;  how  they  made  the  Word 
of  God  of  none  effect,  and  rejected  His  commandr 
ment  that  they  might  keep  their  own  traditions;  how 
they  made  clean  the  outside  of  the  cup  and  platter, 
but  within  were  full  of  extortion  and  excess;  and 
how  they  paid  tithe  of  mint,  and  anise,  and  cummin, 
but  omitted  the  weighter  matters  of  the  law,  judg- 
ment, mercy,  and  faith. 

It  is  impossible  to  read  the  description  of  such 
characters  without  shame  and  indignation,  and  with- 
out a  hope  that,  bad  as  they  were,  their  numbers,  as 
compared  with  the  great  body  of  their  countrymen, 
were  very  limited.  It  may  have  been  so,  but  yet  it 
is  quite  evident  that  there  was  danger  of  hypocrisy, 
and  no  shght  danger,  in  the  case  oi  all  to  whom  our 
Lord  addressed  Himself;  or  else  we  should  not  read 
that  <*  when  there  were  gathered  together  an  in- 
numerable  multitude  of  people,  insomuch  that  they 


ON    ALMSGIVING.  209 

trode  one  upon  anotlier,"  the  blessed  Jesus  ^' began 
to  say  unto  His  disciples  first  of  all,  Beware  ye  of 
tlie  leaven  of  the  Pharisees,  which  is  hypocrisy:" 
nor  again,  at  that  sermon  on  the  Mount,  when  He 
was  surrounded  by  "great  multitudes  of  people  from 
Galilee,  and  from  Decapolis,  and  from  Jerusalem, 
and  from  Judea,  and  from  beyond  Jordan,"  would 
He  have  spoken  so  strongly  against  hypocrisy  in 
prayer,  in  almsgiving,  and  in  fasting,  unless  He  had 
known  that  such  admonitions  were  much  needed, 
seeing  that  His  discourse  on  that  occasion  was  con- 
fined to  a  simple  exposition  of  the  duties  of  daily  life, 
adapted  to  the  cases  and  understandings  of  all  classes 
of  hearers. 

It  is  evident,  therefore,  from  this  fact,  that 
hypocrisy  was  not  a  rare  sin  in  the  days  of  our 
blessed  Lord ;  and  since  human  nature  is  very  much 
the  same  at  all  times  and  under  all  circumstances,  it 
may  be  presumed,  that  this  vice,  which  we* can 
scarce  mention  without  loathing  and  repugnance,  is 
not  so  uncommon,  as  we  may  be  disposed  to  imagine, 
among  ourselves.  And  if  we  are  inclined  lo  deny 
the  fact,  it  can  only  be  because  we  have  taken  up 
some  false  notion  of  the  meaning  of  the  term 
"  hypocrisy." 

What,  then,  is  a  hypocrite  ?  Simply  one  who 
pretends  to  be  something  which  he  is  not,  who  calls 


SIO  ON    ALMSGIVING. 

himself  one  thing  while  he  is  another,  whose  practice 
is  different  from  his  profession. 

Now  if  this  be  the  true  meaning  of  the  term,  and  I 
know  no  other,  it  is  quite  clear  that  in  so  far  as  we 
are  walking  unworthy  of  our  Christian  calling,  we 
are,  one  and  all  of  us,  hypocrites. — What  a  fearful 
consideration  is  this,  when  we  reflect  that  our  Lord 
Himself, — the  future  Judge  of  quick  and  dead, — has 
spoken  of  that  place  "  where  the  worm  dieth  not,  and 
the  fire  is  not  quenched,"  where  there  is  "  weeping 
and  wailing,  and  gnashing  of  teeth,"  as  "the  portion 
of  the  hypocrites  !"  What  an  argument  it  is  against 
allowing  ourselves  to  make  high  professions,  that 
every  profession  so  made  may,  in  the  end,  only  serve 
to  increase  our  condemnation  !  What  an  inducement 
ought  it  to  be  to  us  to  be  diligent  in  self-examination, 
and  in  tracing  our  motives  to  their  source,  when  we 
consider  that,  in  order  to  constitute  a  hypocrite,  it  by 
no  means  follows  that  a  person  should  be  conscious 
that  his  professions  and  his  practice  are  at  variance. 
For  aught  we  can  see,  the  Pharisees  and  Scribes 
were  not  aware  that  they  were  inconsistent ;  they 
seem  to  have  deceived  themselves  as  well  as  others, 
and  not  to  have  known  that  they  were  hypocrites  ! 

Now,  without  entering  at  present  more  fully  into 
this  charge  of  hypocrisy,  as  applicable  in  a  greater  or 
less  degree  to  all  who  call  themselves  Christians,  but 


ON     ALMSGIVING.  2ll 

who  do  not  live  np  to  the  Christian  rule,  I  would  ask 
your  attention  while  I  endeavour  to  set  before  you 
the  subject  of  almsgiving,  as  viewed  with  reference 
to  our  Lord's  warning  already  alluded  to.  The 
whole  passage  is  as  follows.  "  Take  heed  that  ye  do 
not  your  alms  before  men,  to  be  seen  of  them  : 
otherwise  ye  have  no  reward  of  your  Father  wiiich 
is  in  heaven.  Therefore,  when  thou  doest  thine 
alms,  do  not  sound  a  trumpet  before  thee,  as  the 
hypocrites  do  in  the  synagogues  and  in  the  streets^ 
that  they  may  h.ave  glory  of  men.  Verily,  I  say 
unto  you,  They  have  their  reward.  But  when  thou 
doest  alms,  let  not  thy  left  hand  know  what  thy  right 
hand  doeth  :  that  thine  alms  may  be  in  secret :  and 
thy  Father  which  seeth  in  secret  Himself  shall  reward 
thee  openly." 

Here,  then,  we  are  taught,  first,  that  almsgiving  is 
a  Christian  virtue,  and  secondly,  that  almsgiving  is 
acceptable  or  unacceptable  to  God  according  to  the 
motive  from  which  it  springs.  Let  us  enter  into 
some  detail  on  both  these  subjects. 

As  to  the  fact  that  almsgiving  is  a  Christian  virtue, 
it  is  indeed  altogether  unnecessary  to  say  much.  If 
one  of  the  two  great  commandments  of  the  law  be 
that  we  should  love  our  brethren  as  ourselves;  if 
the  love  which  we  exhibit  towards  our  brethren  will 
be  taken  hereafter  as  the  test  of  our  love  to  God  ;  if 


212  ON    ALMSGIVING, 

we  have  the  promise  that  a  cup  of  cold  water  given 
to  a  fellow-creature  for  Christ's  sake  shall  not  lose  its 
reward,  there  can  be  do  doubt  that  to  help  the  poor 
and  needy  out  of  our  substance  is  as  much  a  duty  as 
any  other  point  of  the  moral  law.  And,  in  fact, 
there  are  multitudes  of  direct  injunctions  on  the  sub- 
ject. ^'  Give  to  him  that  asketh  thee,  and  from  him 
that  would  borrov/  of  thee,  turn  not  thou  away." — 
''  To  do  good  and  to  distribute,  forget  not,  for  with 
such  sacrifices  God  is  well  pleased."  "  Whoso  hath 
this  world's  good,  and  seeth  his  brother  have  need, 
and  shutteth  up  his  compassion  from  him,  how 
dwelleth  the  love  of  God  in  him  ?"  These,  and  other 
texts  of  Scripture,  which  the  Church  enjoins  to  be 
read  before  the  collection  of  alms  at  the  Holy  Com- 
munion, abundantly  prove  what  I  have  asserted. 

Nor,  so  far  as  I  know,  are  persons  usually  inclined 
to  deny  their  responsibility  in  this  matter.  The 
question  in  its  practical  bearing  is  not  whether  we 
should  give  alms,  but  how  much  we  should  give. 
And  on  this  point  men  in  general  seem  to  have  satis- 
fied themselves.  The  rule  appears  to  be  to  give  as 
little  as  possible,  and  this,  because  giving  is  rather 
looked  upon  as  a  duty  than  as  a  privilege,  as  a  thing 
to  be  rather  done  out  of  the  fear,  than  out  of  the 
love  of  God.  Yet  what  saith  the  Scripture  ?  "  He 
that  soweth  little  shall  reap  little,  and  he  that  soweth 


ON    ALMSGIVING.  213 

plenteoiisly  shall  reap  plenteously.  Let  every  man 
do  according  as  he  is  disposed  in  his  heart,  not 
grudgingly,  or  of  necessity,  for  God  lovelh  a  cheerful 
giver."  "  Charge  them  who  are  rich  in  this  world, 
that  they  be  ready  to  give,  and  glad  to  distribute." 
"Be  merciful  after  thy  power.  If  thou  hast  much, 
give  plenteously:  if  thou  hast  little,  do  thy  diligence 
gladly  to  give  of  that  little." 

And  further,  by  way  of  warning,  we  are  told  of 
the  young  ruler,  who  could  not  make  up  his  mind 
that  it  would  be  a  privilege  to  sell  all  he  had  and 
give  to  the  poor,  and  follow  Christ,  and  who  thereby 
lost  the  honour  of  being  an  apostle ;  and  by  way  of 
example,  we  have  Zaccheus  whose  habit  it  was  to 
give  half  of  his  goods  to  the  poor. 

It  appears,  then,  that  the  Christian  Avho  is  in 
earnest  will  give  not  as  lit  tie,  but  as  much  as  he 
can  in  the  way  of  alms-deeds.  He  will  lay  it  down 
as  a  rule  never  to  be  departed  from,  that  a  certain 
proportion  of  his  income  shall  be  set  aside  as  conse- 
crated, as  holy  unto  the  Lord,  and  to  be  spent,  as 
unto  the  Lord,  on  the  poor  of  Christ.  And  this  he 
will  do  whether  he  be  wealthy  or  the  reverse.  If  he 
has  much,  he  will  give  plenteously ;  if  he  has  little, 
he  will  give  gladly  of  that  little.  Whatever  be  his 
means,  he  will  so  arrange  the  disposition  of  them 
that  there  shall  be  something  superfluous,  something 
19 


214  ON    ALMSGIVING. 

which  he  may  offer  to  God,  and  be  so  spent  as  to 
bring  down  God's  blessing  on  the  remainder.  It  has 
often  been  said,  that  if  we  do  not  proportion  onr 
charities  to  onr  means,  we  are  hkely  to  provoke  God 
to  proportion  our  means  to  our  charities,  and  make 
us  able  to  give  no  more  than  we  do.  This  is  of 
course  true,  and  it  is  a  fair  argument  to  be  addressed 
to  those  who  are  indisposed  to  act  upon  higher 
grounds ;  but  he  who  is  striving  to  serve  God  faith- 
fully would  be  glad  (if  it  were  possible)  to  outstrip, 
with  his  ready  zeal,  the  commands  of  the  Most  High, 
and  therefore  to  him  such  an  appeal  would  be  un- 
necessary. There  are  few,  however,  who,  from  their 
circumstances  in  life,  and  the  absence  of  family  and 
other  claims,  could  follow  the  example  of  Zaccheus; 
hardly  any,  perhaps,  who  would  do  rightly  in  doing 
that  which  was  proposed  to  the  young  ruler;  but  all, 
I  should  suppose,  have  it  in  tlieir  power  to  make 
some  sacrifices,  and  to  forego  somewhat  in  order  that 
they  may  minister  to  t^liose  who  are  less  well  oif  than 
themselves.  Those  who  are  rich  may  give  largely, 
and  prove  that  they  are  giving  largely  by  stinting 
themselves  in  the  luxuries  of  their  tables,  tlieir 
apparel,  their  equipages,  and  so  forth.  Those  who 
have  no  money  to  bestow  ma}^  give  their  skill,  their 
time,  their  ready  service  to  those  of  their  brethren 
who  need  them. 


ON    ALMSGIVING.  215 

I  fear,  brethren,  it  is  quite  impossible  to  look  at 
the  extremes  of  splendour,  and  the  extremes  of 
misery,  which  are  to  be  seen  in  this  country,  without 
coming  to  the  conclusion,  that  we  must  have  adopted 
a  very  false  notion  as  to  what  is  required  of  us  with 
respect  to  those  who  are  suffering  from  the  evils  of 
ignorance,  poverty,  and  disease.  That  individuals 
may  be  found  who  are  making  to  themselves  friends 
of  the  mammon  of  unrighteousness,  by  sanctifying 
their  wealth  to  Christian  purposes,  there  is  happily 
no  doubt ;  but  the  mass  of  us,  it  is  to  be  feared,  have 
little  taste  for  self-denial,  and  little  desire  to  acquire 
such  a  habit.  The  proof  of  this  is,  that  we  limit  our 
liberality  to  the  standard  adopted  by  the  world 
around  us ;  whereas,  as  Christians,  we  ought  to  give 
all  we  can  spare,  and,  as  Christians,  we  ought  to  bs 
able  to  spare  all  that  is  not  actually  indispensable. 
For  all  that  we  have  we  hold  in  trust,  and  for  all 
that  we  hold  we  shall  have  to  account  hereafter, 
even  to  the  uttermost  farthing. 

But  it  may  be  said,  that  although  we  do  not  do 
all  that  we  ought,  still  a  great  deal  is  done,  and  no 
appeal  is  brought  before  the  public  vv^hich  is  not 
immediately  responded  to. 

Now  I  will  grant  this  for  argument's  sake :  but 
let  us  at  the  same  time  remember  the  words  of  the 
text :    "  Take  heed  that  ye  do  not  your  alms  before 


216 


ON    ALMSGIVING, 


men,  to  be  seen  of  them :  otherwise  ye  have  no 
reward  of  your  Father  which  is  in  heaven.'' 

It  is  quite  clear  that  a  certain  amount  of  almsgiving 
must  be  public.  This  is  inevitable;  but  is  there  any 
need  that  so  large  a  proportion  of  our  alms-deeds 
should  be  made  public,  as  is  the  case  at  present? 
Almost  every  printed  subscription  list  seems  to  carry 
with  it  a  two-fold  evil :  first,  there  is  the  evil  that 
the  left  hand  knows  what  the  right  hand  has  been 
doing,  and  secondly,  it  is  a  perpetual  incitement  to 
niggardliness ;  men  are  thereby  induced  to  give,  not 
according  to  their  means,  but  according  to  what 
somebody  else  has  given. 

But  allowing  that  publicity  must  occasionally 
attend  upon  almsgiving,  and  that  it  is  sometimes 
desirable  for  the  sake  of  setting  a  good  example,  may 
it  not  be  asked  whether  people  are  as  willing  to  give 
away  their  money,  when  their  liberality  will  remain 
unknown,  as  when  it  will  come  before  the  world? 

Herein,  brethren,  you  will  do  well  to  search  and 
exaniine  your  hearts,  for  herein  we  may  find  within 
us,  unthought  of,  and  unsuspected,  the  creeping  root 
of  hypocrisy.  Some  of  our  charity  must  be  public; 
but  is  the  greater  portion  of  \i  private  ?  Do  we 
endeavour  as  much  as  possible  to  make  it  private? 
Do  we  give  with  simplicity,  thinking  no  more  about 


ON    ALMSGIVING.  217 

it  when  our  alms-deed  is  done ;  or  are  we  tempted 
to  compare  our  own  liberality  with  the  niggardliness 
of  others,  and  look  on  what  we  do  with  self-com- 
placency? Again  ;  upon  what  principle  do  we  give  ? 
Is  it  in  order  that  we  may  establish  a  character  for 
humanity  and  generosity?  that  we  may  be  popular, 
as  it  is  called  ?  or  do  we  make  offerings  with  single- 
Iieartedness,  as  unto  God,  and  for  the  sake  of  Him 
WIio  for  our  sakes  became  poor,  that  we  through 
His  poverty  might  become  rich?  Do  we  see  Christ 
Himself  in  His  poor  and  afflicted,  and  do  we  there- 
fore treat  them  as  we  would  treat  Him, — reverently, 
1  mean,  and  with  delicacy,  and  not  as  though  we 
were  patronizing  them,  or  as  wishing  to  make  them 
feel  that  they  are  under  obligations  to  us?  Have  we 
less  satisfaction  in  ministering  to  those  whose 
obscurity  is  likely  to  prevent  their  being  able  to  say 
much  about  what  we  have  done  for  them,  than  in 
giving  assistance  to  those  who  are  in  a  position  to 
speak  in  such  a  manner  of  our  liberality,  that  we 
are  likely  to  hear  of  it  again  ?  Do  we,  in  short,  in 
any  respect,  think  more  of  our  public  charities  than 
of  our  private  alms-deeds  ?  If  we  do,  can  it  be  fairly 
said  that  we  do  not  partake  of  the  hypocrisy  of  the 
Pharisees? 

It   would  be  a  most   happy  thing  for  us  all  if  a 
custom  prescribed  by  our  Church,  indeed  I  may  say 
19^ 


218  ON     ALMSGIVING. 

very  strictly  enjoined,  but  v/hich,  throngli  our  hard- 
heartedness  and  covetousness,  has  till  lately  fallen 
into  disuse,  were  revived  universally.  If,  as  every 
Sunday  came  round,  the  people  had  the  opportunity 
of  doing  what  St.  Paul  so  strongly  recommended,  I 
mean  offering  their  alms  according  to  their  abiUty,  in 
that  part  of  divine  service  which  is  called  the  Oifertory, 
there  would  be  much  less  scope  for  hypocrisy  and 
ostentation  than  there  is  at  present.  Those  who 
could  give  but  little,  would  not,  as  now,  be  often 
prevented  from  giving  at  all,  because  they  can  only 
give  a  little ;  Avhile  the  rich,  from  the  frequency  of 
the  call  made  upon  them  by  the  Church,  would  get 
into  the  habit  of  thinking  more  of  the  responsibilities 
which  wealth  involves.  They  would  learn  to  view  their 
condition  more  as  the  Bible  teaches  them  to  view  it, 
and  to  act  upon  the  conviction  that  riches  are  a  peril, 
and  a  snare,  and  that  they  only  are  happy  who  are 
continuRlly  offering  them  to  God. 

Again,  there  is  something  in  the  facts  that  the  alms 
of  each  individual  at  the  Offertory  are,  as  it  were, 
offered  in  private,  though  the  offering  in  its  collective 
amount  is  public :  that  no  one  knows  what  another 
gives  ;  and  that  the  whole  is  offered  in  one  sum  upon 
God's  altar,  the  common  tribute  of  rich  and  poor, 
mingled  together  without  distinction  or  difference  : 
there  is,  I  say,   something  in   these  facts    which  is 


ON    ALMSGIVING.  219 

admirably  calculated  to  make  us  realize  to  ourselves 
that  we  are  in  very  deed  members  one  of  another, 
and  to  divest  us  of  those  feelings  which  lay  at  the 
root  of  hypocrisy  in  almsgiving. 

It  does  not  fall  in  with  the  design  of  this  discourse 
to  point  out  the  special  objects  to  which  your  alms 
should  be  directed  :  but  I  may  say,  in  passing,  that, 
as  a  general  rule,  you  are  likely  to  do  more  good  by 
bestowing  your  alms  in  your  own  neighbourhood, 
where  you  know  the  history  and  condition  of  those 
to  whom  you  minister,  than  by  contributing  to  objects 
which  (for  there  is  a  fashion  in  charity  as  well  as  in 
religion)  happen  to  be  the  fashionable  claimants  of 
sympathy.  At  any  rate  there  is  least  danger  to  your- 
selves in  such  a  course,  least  danger  of  self-deception 
and  hypocrisy. — In  saying  this,  however,  I  do  not 
mean  to  dissuade  you  from  co-operating  with  those 
venerable  societies,  which,  under  the  sanction  of  the 
rulers  ofour  Church,  are  labouring  for  the  propagation 
of  the  Gospel  among  the  heathen,  the  promotion  of 
education  and  Christian  knowledge  among  ourselves, 
the  restoration  or  erection  of  churches,  and  the 
supply  of  curates  for  populous  places.  I  am  sure 
when  we  reflect  upon  the  mercies  which,  as  a  nation, 
we  have  received  ;  as  we  see  on  all  sides  the  proofs 
of  national  wealth  ;  as,  in  the  midst  of  comforts  and 
luxuries  such  as  Tyre  and  Babylon  never  knew,  we 


220  .    ON    ALMSGIVING. 

witness  such  destitution,  and  poverty,  atid  heathen 
ignorance,  and  crime,  as  I  should  hope  no  other 
nation,  calling  itself  Christian,  was  ever  yet  afflicted 
with  ;  we  ought,  all  of  us,  from  highest  to  lowest,  to 
lend  our  aid  at  the  cost  of  even  the  severest  self- 
denial,  to  remove  the  load  of  misery,  moral,  social, 
and  physical,  with  which  we  are  surrounded.  If 
we  have  any  bowels  of  compassion,  if  we  have  any 
real  love  for  Christ  Who  died  for  us,  we  shall  have 
pity  on  our  brethren,  and  do  what  in  us  lies  to  remove 
from  ourselves  the  stigma  of  being  at  once  the  most 
prosperous  and  most  covetous,  the  most  favoured  and 
most  ungrateful,  the  most  luxurious  and  hardest- 
hearted  people,  for  whom  the  cup  of  vengeance  is 
prepared. 

May  God  have  mercy  on  us,  and  forgive  us  our 
sins  of  omission  as  well  as  of  commission  I  May  His 
good  Spirit  pour  into  our  hearts  such  a  measure  of 
grace  as  may  enable  us  to  battle  successfully  with  all 
greedy  and  ostentatious  tempers.  May  He  give  us 
a  dread  of  hypocrisy,  of  professing  more  than  we 
practice,  of  loving  the  praise  of  men  more  than  the 
praise  of  God.  May  he  keep  us  from  deceiving 
others,  or  ourselves.  May  He  make  us  liberal, 
generous,  open-hearted,  ready  to  give,  and  glad  to 
distribute,  and  with  all  our  other  graces  may  He  give 
us  the  grace  of  a  lowly  and  an  humble  mind  ! 


SERMON  XIV. 

ON    PRAYER. 

Matthew  vi.  5. 
When  thou  prayest,  thou  shall  not  be  as  the  h5'pocrites  are. 

We  are  sent  into  this  world  in  order  that  we  may- 
go  through  such  a  course  of  discipUne  and  trial  as 
may  fit  us  for  a  better;  in  order  that  we  may  learn  by- 
practical  experience,  that  it  is  a  happier  thing  to  submit 
ourselves  in  all  things  to  God  than  to  have  a  will  of  our 
own;  in  order  that  we  maybe  taught  that  apart  from 
God  there  is  neither  light,  comfort,  nor  safety,  and  that 
in  communion  with  Him  is  the  soul's  chief  good  to  be 
found.  Thus  we  are  gradually  prepared  to  enjoy 
heaven, — a  place  for  which  by  nature  we  have  no  de- 
sire, and  which,  even  were  we  admitted  into  it  such  as 
we  are  by  nature,  we  should  find  to  be  no  portion  of 
happiness  to  us,  but  a  scene  of  insupportable  constraint, 
wherein  we  should  find  nothuig  which  would  be  in 
unison  with  our  affections  and  desires. 

Now,  prayer  being  the  most  effectual  method  of 


223 


ON    PRAYER. 


bringing  our  souls  into  communion  with  God,  Holy- 
Scripture  sets  before  us  the  duty  of  prayer  in  the 
strongest  possible  terms,  and  represents  it  as  that 
which  must  occupy  the  greater  portion  of  a  Chris- 
tian's life.  "  Watch  and  pray  "  is  the  exhortation  of 
our  Lord  to  His  disciples.  For  them  He  provided  a 
form  of  prayer,  while  his  own  life  was  a  pattern  and 
example  of  it.  And  the  holy  Apostles  were  no  less 
urgent  in  teaching  their  converts  that  prayer  was  to 
be  the  business  of  their  existence.  "  Continue  in 
prayer  and  watch  in  the  same  with  thanksgiving." 
"Watch  unto  prayer."  "Watch  and  pray  always." 
"Pray  without  ceasing."  "Continue  instant  in 
prayer."  These,  and  a  hundred  other  texts  to  the 
same  purport,  will  readily  occur  to  the  recollection 
of  all  who  are  in  the  habit  of  reading  their  Bibles. 

Accordingly,  the  Church  has,  from  the  times  of  the 
Apostles,  provided  for  her  children  that  they  should 
never  be  without  opportunities  of  public  prayer,  well 
knowing  that  thus  she  had  the  best  guarantee  that 
private  devotion  would  not  be  neglected.  She  has 
declared  universally  that,  so  far  as  in  her  lies,  the 
people  shall  never  be  without  places  in  which  to 
pray,  or  without  a  priesthood  to  pray  for  them,  and 
with  them.  It  is,  indeed,  our  shame,  and  guilt,  and 
misery,  here  in  England,  that  for  the  most  part,  our 
churches  are  locked  up  from  week's  end  to  week's 


ON    PRAYER.  ii-iJ 

end ;  and  that,  except  on  Sundays,  we  may  look  in 
vain  through  the  courts  of  the  Lord's  house  for  either 
priests  or  worshippers;  but  so  long  as  the  Prayer-book 
exists,  we  have  a  witness  against  us,  for  there  it  is 
enjoined  that  morning  iind  evening  prayer  should  be 
read  daily  in  our  churches  throughout  the  year;  and 
it   seems  to  me  that  a  clergyman  is  just  as  much 
bound  to  discharge  this  duty,  when  only  two  or  three 
will  come  and  join  with  him,  as  he  is  to   baptize 
infants,  or  bury  the  dead  which  are  brought  to  him. 
But  our  sloth  and  unbelief,  how  much  soever  they 
may   prevent   the   Church's   intentions   from   being 
carried  out,  cannot  prevent  her  from  being  a  witness 
against  us,  her  unthankful  and  disobedient  children, 
— any    more    than  they  can    prevent  those   who,  in 
times  past,  amid  much  of  error  and  superstition,  yet 
had  their  churches  open  for  prayer  and  praise  night 
and  day,  and  had  their  seven-fold  course   of  daily 
prayer,  from  rising  up  in  judgment  against  us,  who 
arc  open-mouthed  in  our  boastings  of  superior  know- 
ledge, purity,  and  devotion. 

Yet,  on  the  whole,  it  appears  that,  however 
defective  we  may  be  in  our  practice,  we  none  of  us 
make  any  question  as  to  the  duty  of  constant  prayer, 
and  therefore  it  is  unnecessary  that  I  should  bring 
arguments  to  prove  what  you  are  quite  prepared  to 
admit ;  and  I  may,  therefore,  proceed  at  once  to  a 


224  ON    PHAyER. 

consideration  of  the  warning  contained  in  the  text. 
Tiie    Pharisees,  Uke   ourselves,   fully   admitted   the 
necessity  of  prayer;  and  they  went  further  than  we 
do,  for  they  appear  to  have  been  very  dilligent  in  the 
discharge  of  thei^  duty,  only,  unhappily,  they  prayed 
in  such  a  way  as  to  be  guilty  of  the  sin  of  hypocrisy. 
Now  there  are  people  in   the  world  who  profess 
such  a  horror  of  the  sin  of  hypocrisy,  that  they  seem 
well  nigh  disposed  to  recommend  the  relinquishment 
of  any  habit  which,  by  any  possibility,  might  foster 
it.     But  was  this  tlie  language  of  our  blessed  Lord? 
Far   otherwise.     He  did  not  forbid  His  disciples  to 
pray,  because  the    Pharisees  turned   their   prayers 
into  a  sin,  but  taught  them  how  to  pray  in  such  a 
manner  as  that  their  prayers  should  not  be   turned 
into  sin.     "  When  thou  prayest,  thou  shalt  not  be  as 
the  hypocrites  are  :  for  they  love  to  pray  standing  in 
the  synagogues  and  in  the  corners  of  the  streets,  that 
they  may  be  seen  of  men.     Verily,  I  say  unto  you, 
they   have   their   reward.      But   thou,   when    thou 
prayest,  enter  into  thy  closet,  and  when  thou  hast 
shut  thy  door,  pray  to  thy  Father  which  is  in  secret ; 
and  thy  Father  which  seeth  in  secret  shall   reward 
thee  openly." 

Now  there  is  this  difference  between  this  admoni- 
tion and  one  which  we  considered  in  a  former 
discourse,  that  to  us  at  the  present  day  there  does 


ON    PRAYER.  225 

not  seem  much  temptation  to  fall  into  it.  Wc  are  in 
clanger,  very  many  of  ns,  of  giving  our  alms  in  a 
public  manner,  for  the  purpose  of  gaining  the 
applause  of  men,  just  as  was  the  habit  of  the  Phari- 
sees of  old ;  but  time  and  customs  are  so  far  altered, 
that  nobody  who  did  not  wish  to  be  thought  a  mad- 
man would,  now-a-days,  stand  praying  at  the  corners 
of  the  streets.  I  am  not  expressing  an  opinion 
whether,  abstractedly,  there  would  be  any  impro- 
priety in  praying  in  such  a  situation  ;  I  am  simply 
stating  a  fact.  Manners  and  feelings  are  changed  ; 
ive  are  rather  ashamed  of  praying,  than  /?roz;^  of  it ; 
and  were  we  to  choose  any  public  and  conspicuous 
place  like  the  corners  of  the  streets  for  our  devotions, 
we  should  not  be  respected  but  ridiculed.  And  there- 
fore, the  exact  sin  of  the  Pharisees  is,  perhaps,  not 
to  be  found  among  us.  Nobody  is  a  hypocrite  who 
has  not  some  end  to  gain  by  his  hypocrisy,  and  no 
advantage  would  arise  to  any  man,  in  the  present 
state  of  society,  from  making  such  a  public  exhibhion 
of  himself,  as  that  alluded  to  by  our  blessed  Lord. 

Nevertheless,  Satan  has  not  lost  his  advantage 
over  us.  He  is  ever  skilful  to  adapt  his  snares  to  the 
tempers  of  the  times :  and  when  one  form  of  tempta- 
tion ceases  to  be  attractive,  he  is  never  slow  in  find- 
ing another  to  supply  its  place  ;  he  is  at  no  loss  for 
expedients,  and  if  he  sees  that  one  form  of  error  has 
20 


22G  ON    PR  AYE  K. 

lost  its  power  over  us,  he  will  readily  prepare  some 
more  subtle  method  of  seduction. 

Now,  let  us  consider  how  he  tempts  men  to  be 
hypocrites  in  their  prayers  at  the  present  day,  and 
among  ourselves. 

The  Pharisees  loved  "to  stand  praying  in  the  syna- 
gogues, and  in  the  corners  of  the  streets,"  that  they 
might  be  seen  of  men.     They  were  so  presumptuous 
as  to  assume  the  attitude  of  prayer,  for  the  mere 
purpose  of  producing  an  effjpct  on  the  bystanders, 
while  all  the  while  they  were  not  even  attempting 
to  lift  up  their  hearts  unto  God,  or  if  any  of  them 
were  not  altogether  so  profane  and  audacious  as  this, 
still  they  prayed  from  a  wrong  motive,  and  in  such 
a  manner,  as  that  their  prayers  were  turned  into  sin. 
The  probability  seems  to  be,  that  those  among  them 
who  were  least  ill-disposed  were  so  self-deceived  as 
to  be,  in  a  great  measure,  ignorant  that  they  were 
committing   any    offence   at   all.      They   were   un- 
suspicious of  the  depths  of  their  own  corruption,  and 
had  no  knowledge  of  the  motives  that  really  actuated 
them.     In  the  first  instance,  perhaps,  they  had  been 
perfectly  sincere  and  single-hearted,  they  bad  desired 
to  serve  God  acceptably,  nnd  had  entered  upon  His 
service,  for  its  own  sake,  with  zeal  and   devotion. 
By  and  by  the  notice  of  men  came  to  them  unsought ; 
they  found  themselves  spoken  of  as  more  religious 


ON    PRAYER.  227 

Ihan  Iheif  neighbours;  their  society  was  conrtcd  by 
serious-minded  persons ;  their  opinions  and  actions 
werQ  canvassed  and  talked  about.  There  was  some- 
thing gratifying  in  this ;  it  was  an  evidence,  they 
persuaded  themselves,  that  they  were  in  truth  lead- 
ing a  saintly  life.  And  so  the  seed  of  vanity  was 
sown  in  their  hearts.  And  when  the  devil  has  once 
effected  this,  his  work  is  well  nigh  done ;  all  the  rest 
is  easy,  and  follows  almost  as  a  matter  of  course. 
So  we  may  presume  it  was  with  the  Pharisees.  The 
more  they  were  admired,  the  more  they  prayed  ;  for 
admiration  became  necessary  to  them,  and  they  could 
not  live  out  of  the  excitement  of  public  applause. 
And  so  by  degrees,  though  they  went  on  praying  as 
much  or  more  than  ever,  they  contrived  to  substitute 
self  in  the  place  of  God;  they  honoured  Him  with 
their  lips,  while  their  hearts  were  far  from  Him  ;  they 
loved  the  praise  of  men  more  than  the  praise  of  God  ; 
and  without  a  suspicion  of  their  grievous  fall,  or  of 
the  offensiveness  of  their  conduct  in  His  eyes,  they 
believed  themselves  to  be  eminently  pious;  yea,  they 
trusted  in  themselves  that  they  were  righteous,  and 
they  despised  others,  though  all  the  while  they  were 
hypocrites. 

Now  if  we  consider  the  case  of  the  Pharisees  in 
this  point  of  view,  it  will,  I  thirik,  appear  that  persons 
at  the  present  day  are  not  without  danger  of  falling 


22S  ON    PRAYER. 

into  their  sin,  and  the  more  so,  perhaps,  because  at 
first  sight  it  seems  so  very  imhkely  that  any  of  us 
should  do  so.  I  will  exemplify  what  I  mean  by  a 
few  instances. 

Among  respectable  people  it  is  always  in  a  man's 
favour,  and  is  spoken  of  as  a  credit  to  him,  that  he  is 
a  regular  church-goer,  that  he  attends  whenever  he 
has  an  opportunity  on  the  public  ordinances  of  re- 
ligion. Now  let  me  ask  whether  it  is  not  at  least 
conceivable,  that  young  persons  might  be  found,  who 
are  in  the  habit  of  coming  to  church,  not  because 
God  is  their  Jirsi  object,  but  because  they  wish  to 
please  parents,  or  relations,  or  friends  ? 

Might  not  a  servant  be  found  here  or  there,,  who, 
while  he  lives  in  what  is  called  a  religious  family, 
will  appear  to  be  very  attentive  to  his  religious 
duties,  but  who,  when  he  goes  into  a  situation  where 
none  of  these  things  are  cared  for,  will  become  quite 
neglectful  of  divine  worship  ?  Are  there  many 
parishes,  think  you,  in  which  no  individuals  might 
be  pointed  out,  (if  we  could  read  each  others'  hearts 
as  God  can,)  who  come  to  church  for  the  purpose  of 
keeping  well,  as  it  is  called,  with  the  clergyman,  and 
with  some  secret  thought  of  thereby  benefiting  their 
temporal  interests  as  occasions  arise  ?  Again,  in 
another  class  of  life,  are  there  none  who  come  to 
church  for  form's  sake,  and  fashion's  sake,  and  be- 


ON    TRAYER.  22!) 

cause  they  are  used  to  it,  rather  than  because  God 
is  in  all  their  tliouglits  ?  Now,  brethren,  if  an  aflirm- 
ative  answer  must  be  given,  as  I  fear  it  must,  to  thcoc 
questions,  is  there  not  evidence  of  Pharisaic  hypocrisy 
among  ourselves  ? 

Let  us  go  on  to  another  instance. — We  go  to 
church,  and  so  far  as  hps  and  bodily  motions  are 
concerned,  appear  to  be  devout  in  our  service  of  the 
Most  High:  but  are  we  what  we  seem?  Does  it 
distress  us  if  our  thoughts  wander?  Do  we  strive  to 
prevent  them  from  wandering?  Do  we  habitually 
consider  in  Whose  presence  we  are,  and  Who  it  is 
that  we  address?  Do  we  say  prayers,  or  do  we 
pray  ?  Do  we  feel  sorrow  when  we  express  it  ?  ..^re 
we  thankful  when  we  say  we  are  ?  I  well  know  the' 
difficulty  of  fixing  our  attention  on  sacred  things  as 
we  ought  to  do,  but  are  we,  at  least,  trying  to  be 
devout,  at  the  time  when  before  men  we  show  all 
the  externals  of  devotion  ?  If  not,  here  again  is  a 
further  case  of  resemblance  to  the  Pharisees. 

Once  more.  Many  of  us,  it  is  to  be  hoped,  have 
the  advantages  of  family  prayer  in  our  households. 
Now,  are  there  any,  who  will  make  a  point  of  being 
at  family  prayers,  where  their  presence  or  absence 
would  be  remarked,  but  who,  nevertheless,  are  quite 
careless  about  their  private  prayers,  or  perhaps 
excuse  themselves  from  saying  them  at  all,  on  the 
20^ 


230  ON    PRAYER. 

plea  that  to  join  in  the  family  prayers  is  suflicient? 
Would  not  such  a  habit  as  this  savour  strongly  of 
hypocrisy  ? 

And  further,  with  respect  to  our  private  prayers. 
While  we  take  good  care  to  obey  the  first  part  of  our 
Lord's  injunction,  by  not  praying  as  we  stand  at  the 
corners  of  the  streets,  are  we  equally  careful  to 
attend  to  the  remainder  of  liis  admonition?  Do  we 
enter  into  our  closets,  and  shut  to  the  door,  and  pray 
as  diligently  in  private  as  in  public  ?  Should  we  be 
equally  distressed  were  we  to  forget  our  morning  or 
evening  prayers,  as  we  should  be  if  we  were  to  find 
ourselves  (through  mistaking  the  day)  going  about 
our  week-day  work  on  Sundays,  when  other  people 
were  preparing  for  church  ?  If  we  were  betrayed 
into  such  a  sin  as  laughing  or  talking  in  God's  imme- 
diate presence,  in  His  house  of  prayer,  I  suppose  we 
should,  on  reflection,  be  very  much  ashamed  of  our- 
selves, and  very  much  grieved  that  we  should  have 
exposed  ourselves  to  the  condemnation  of  all  reverent 
and  serious-minded  persons ;  but  sliould  we  be  as 
much  ashamed  and  grieved  at  any  irreverence  or 
carelessness  in  our  private  devotions  ^  If  not,  it  must 
be  admitted  that  we  are  so  far  like  the  Pharisees 
that  we  make  more  account  of  what  men  think  of  us, 
than  of  wliat  we  may  be  in  the  sight  of  God. 

Lastly,  I  would  observe  that  there  is  a  danger  to 


& 


ON    PRAYER.  231 

some;  arising  from  the  increased  attention  to  Cliurcli 
observances,  which  it  has  been  tlie  privilege  of  our 
generafion  to  witness. 

Turn  where  we  will,  we  find  among  Churchmen 
a  growing  desire  to  avail  themselves  of  such  oppor- 
tunities, as  may  be  placed  within  their  reach,  of 
carrying  out  the  system  prescribed  for  their  use  in 
the  Prayer-book.  But  a  few  years  ago,  when  the 
revival  of  Divine  service  on  the  Festivals,  or  daily 
throughout  the  year,  was  spoken  of,  and  more  fre- 
qent  administration  of  the  Holy  Communion  recom- 
mended, the  suggestions  were  met  by  the  objection 
that  such  an  attempt  would  be  useless,  for  that 
people  would  not  be  induced  to  alter  their  established 
Avays  of  going  on.  But  they  knew  little  of  the  living 
power  that  there  is  in  Church  ordinances,  nor  of  the 
deep  yearning  of  multitudes  for  them,  who  thus 
reasoned.  Never,  so  far  as  I  can  learn,  in  a  single 
instance,  has  an  increase  of  services  been  without  its 
results, — small  at  first,  but  gradually  extending,  even 
as  the  mustard  seed,  from  being  the  smallest  of 
seeds,  will  produce  a  tree  in  which  the  birds  of  the 
air  can  lodge. 

They  who  have  leisure,  have  generally,  even  from 
the  first,  been  glad  to  devote  more  time  to  God  and 
holy  things;  and  they  who  have  no  leisure,  have 
contrived  to  make  it,  so  that  there  are  now  churches 


232  ON    PRAYER. 

in  this  country,  in  which,  every  morning,  two  or  three 
hundred  men,  in  their  labouring  dresses,  may  be 
seen  assembled  in  prayer,  before  they  go  forth  to 
work  for  tlieir  daily  bread. 

Surely  this  is  a  most  cheering  symptom,  among 
much  that  is  disheartening,  not  to  say  appalling ;  it 
almost  kindles  the  hope  that  for  their  sake,  the  country 
may  be  spared,  for  had  ten  righteous  men  been  found 
in  it,  even  Sodom  itself  would  not  have  been  "  set 
forth,  for  an  example,  suffering  the  vengeance  of 
eternal  fire." 

But  because  this  is  a  good  sign,  so  much  the  more 
sure  may  we  be,  that  there  is  evil  lurking  near  it ; 
because  this  gives  ground  for  trusting  that  many  will 
be  thereby  called  from  Satan,  unto  God,  so  much 
the  more  reason  have  we  to  expect  that  Satan  will 
leave  no  means  untried  by  which  he  may  corrupt 
and  destroy,  or  render  inert  what  else  would  be  full 
of  promise. 

Let  us  take  heed,  then,  as  many  of  us  as  are 
gladly  availing  ourselves  of  such  increased  means  of 
grace,  as  the  Church  puts  within  our  reach,  lest  the 
devil,  through  his  subtlety,  and  cunning  lying  in 
wait  to  deceive,  should  make  all  our  labour  in  vain, 
which  most  assuredly  he  will  do,  if  he  can  induce  us 
to  grow  formal,  to  trust  in  forms,  or  to  attend  upon 
forms,  for  the  purpose  of  gaining  the  applause  of  men. 


ON    TRAYER.  233 

With  respect  to  the  last  point,  indeed,  there  is  not 
at  present  much  danger :  the  tide  has  set  in  a  con- 
trary direction :  but  even  cahimny  and  reviling  are 
not  without  their  dangers,  since  they  who  are  cahun- 
niated  have  always  the  temptation  to  think  much  of 
themselves,  on  that  very  account.  And  so  likewise 
the  feeling  ourselves  to  be  of  a  little  flock  who  are 
serving  God  in  His  Church  continually,  keeping  up 
the  remembrances  of  His  Saints  of  old,  and  Plis 
wonders  of  olden  time,  observing  fast  and  festival, 
and  living  by  a  rule  of  which  the  world  without 
knows  nothing,  or,  which  knowing,  it  despises ;  all 
this  has  in  it  tlie  seeds  of  the  self-same  danger  into 
which  the  Pharisees  fell.  It  may  (or  rather,  through 
it,  Satan  may)  induce  us  to  trust  in  our  own  righteous- 
ness and  despise  others ; — to  set  great  store  by  forms 
and  petty  observances,  and  omit  the  weightier  mat- 
ters of  the  law  ; — to  "  fast  twice  in  the  week  and  give 
tithes  of  aU  we  possess,"  and  on  that  ground  to  grow 
presumptuous  and  self-confident. 

"  Salt  is  good  ;  but  if  the  salt  have  lost  his  savour, 
wherewith  shall  it  be  seasoned  ?  It  is  neither  fit  for 
the  land,  nor  yet  for  the  dunghill ;  but  men  cast  it 
out."  And  so,  likewise,  forms  are  good;  but  if  the 
forms  have  lost  their  spirituality,  wherewith  will  they 
profit  us?  tITey  are  altogetlier  valueless;  they  are 
positively  evil. 


234  ON    TRAYER. 

Rest  then,  my  bretlireiij  not  upon  forms,  but  on 
Him  to  Whom  it  is  the  object  of  the  Church's  forms 
to  lead  you.  Be  dihgent  and  exact  in  carrying  out 
the  whole  system  which  the  Church  prescribes  to 
yon  ;  but,  when  all  is  done,  see  that  you  are  not 
trusling  in  your  own  imperfect  obedience,  or  rather, 
I  should  say,  in  your  own  miserable  deficiencies,  but 
in  Christ  Who  died  to  purchase  our  redemption. 
Pray  without  ceasing,  continue  instant  in  prayer,  and 
use  gladly  all  the  means  which  may  aid  you  in 
acquiring  the  spirit  of  prayer,  but  set,  meanwhile,  a 
watch  upon  your  hearts,  lest  any  earthly  motive 
mingle  with  and  pollute  your  intercourse  with  the 
Most  High.  Be  ye  instant  in  prayer,  both  public 
and  private,  but  very  suspicious  of  yourselves  all  the 
while,  and  examine  well  lest  there  be  lurking  within, 
some  secret  longing  after  human  applause,  some 
desire  to  be  thought  religious.  Pray  without  ceasing ; 
lyLit  when  you  pray,  "  be  not  as  the  hypocrites  are, 
for  they  love  to  pray  standing  in  the  synagogues, 
and  in  the  corners  of  the  streets,  that  they  may 
be  seen  of  men.  Verily,  I  say  unto  you,  they 
have  their  reward.  But  thou,  when  thou  prayest, 
enter  into  thy  closet,  and  when  thou  hast  shut 
thy  door,  pray  to  thy  Father  which  is  in  secret ;  and 
thy  Father  which  seeth  in  secret  shaff  reward  thee 
openly." 


ox    PRAYER.  235 

And  "  Oh,  Almighty  and  everlasting  God,  mcrci- 
fnlly  look  upon  our  infirmities,  and,  in  all  our  dan- 
gers and  necessities,  stretch  forth  Thy  right  hand  to 
help  and  defend  us;  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord. 
Amen." 


SERMON  XV. 

ON    FASTING. 

Matthew  vi.  17,  18. 

Thou,  when  thou  fastest,  anoint  thine  head,  and  wash  thy  face; 
that  thou  appear  not  unto  men  to  fast,  but  unto  thy  father  which 
is  in  secret :  and  thy  father  which  seeth  in  secret  shall  reward 
thee  openly. 

The  first  point  to  which  I  would  call  your  attention 
in  the  consideration  of  this  passage,  is  the  relation  it 
bears  to  the  context.  It  is  the  last  of  three  instances 
adduced  by  our  blessed  Lord,  in  which,  with  respect 
to  certain  known  and  acknowledged  duties,  He  put 
His  followers  on  their  guard  against  becoming  hypo- 
crites. 

The  two  other  points  specified  by  Him  were  those 
of  Almsgiving  and  Prayer.  And  as  in  neither  of  these 
instances  does  He  think  it  necessary  to  insist  on  the 
observance  of  the  duty,  but  only  speaks  of  the  man- 
ner in  which  it  is  to  be  performed  ;  so,  here.  He  does 
not  enjoin  His  followers  to  fast,  for  He  assumes  that 
21  ^ 


238  ON    PASTING. 

they  would  do  so,  but  shows  them  that  there  is  a 
wrong  as  well  as  a  right  way  of  exercising  this  kind 
of  self-denial. 

He  does  not  say,  "  If  thou  doest  alms,  do  not 
sound  a  trumpet  before  thee,"  or  "7/"  thou  prayest 
enter  into  thy  closet,"  or  ''If  ye  fast,  be  not  as  the 
hypocrites,  of  a  sad  countenance  ;"  but  "  when  thou 
doest  alms,"  "  lohen  thou  prayest,"  "  when  ye  fast." 
It  is  taken  as  a  matter  of  course  that  those  who  de- 
sire to  serve  God  acceptably  will  do  these  things 
according  to  their  abilities  and  opportunities,  with 
glad  and  willing  minds,  without  questioning  or  doubt- 
ing. The  three  duties  are,  in  this  respect,  put  upon 
precisely  the  same  footing.  There  may  be  cases  in 
which  it  would  be  wrong  to  fast,  in  which  a  man  has 
no  alms  to  bestow,  or  in  which  retirement  for  the 
purpose  of  prayer  is  impossible,  but  these  are  the  ex- 
ceptions, not  the  rule  ;  in  ordinary  cases,  the  discharge 
of  any  one  duty  is  as  much  expected  as  the  others. 

Such,  I  think,  at  least,  would  be  the  impression  of 
any  person  who  read  the  entire  passage,  if  he  could 
do  so  candidly,  and  without  preconceived  opinions. 
But  in  the  present  state  of  things  there  is  not  much 
probability  that  this  view  of  the  case  will  be  readily 
admitted  to  be  the  true  one,  because  there  is  a  very 
strong  repugnance  among  us  to  the  act  of  fasting. 
We  are  a  luxurious,  pampered,. self-indulgent  people, 


ON    FASTING.  239 

who  have  altogether  got  out  of  the  way  of  bodily 
mortification  and  self-denial,  and  to  many  the  very 
name  of  fasting  is  an  offence  and  an  affront.  Some 
excuse  themselves  on  one  ground,  and  some  on 
another. — With  the  plea  that  is  commonly  brought 
on  the  score  of  health,  I  do  not  wish  to  join  issue  ; 
but  I  desire  to  say  a  few  words  to  those  who  allege 
that  they  do  not  fast,  because  fasting  is  not  enjoined 
in  Scripture.  Prayer  and  almsdeeds,  such  persons 
say,  are  commanded  again  and  again,  but  we  find  no 
law  laid  down  on  the  subject  of  fasting. 

Now  to  this  I  reply,  in  the  first  place,  that  it  seems 
to  me  that  there  is  certainly  a  divine  sanction  for 
fasting  in  the  precept  appointing  the  Jewish  great 
public  Fast  on  the  day  of  Atonement*  a  day  which, 
in  its  moral  purpose,  seems  to  correspond  very  much 
with  the  Church's  intent  in  appointing  the  observance 
of  Good  Friday.  And  again,  if  the  prophets  were 
sent  to  command  a  special  public  fast,  or  to  recognise 
and  command  the  observance  of  those  which  were  in 
use  among  the  Jews,  this  also  is  a  divine  sanction.! 
Whatever  was  in  practice  under  the  Law,  and  is  not 
abrogated  by  the  Gospel,  is  still  in  force.  We  observe 
a  Sabbath,  but  not  the  Jewish  Sabbath  ;  so  we  are 
to  observe  some  fasts,  but  not  the  Jewish  fasts. 

*  Levit.  xvi.  29—31,  and  xxiii.  26—32. 
■j-  Joel  i.  14,  ii.  15  ;  Zech.  vii.  5.  viii.  19 


240  ON    FASTING. 

Admitting,  however,  in  the  second  place,  that  I 
can  adduce  no  such  imperative  command  with  respect 
to  bodily  abstinence,  as  I  can  for  prayer  and  alms- 
deeds  ;  nothing  so  strong  as  "  Pray  without  ceasing," 
or  "  Sell  that  ye  have,  and  give  alms  ;" — still  for  this 
an  obvious  reason  may  be  alleged,  which  will  tend 
rather  to  confirm,  than  disprove  the  general  obliga- 
tion to  fasting.  Here  and  there,  there  may  be  some 
whose  natural  constitution  and  bodily  infirmities  are 
such,  that  it  would  be  physically  impossible  for  them 
to  obey  such  a  command  without  self-destruction. 
For  their  sake,  doubtless,  the  command  to  fast  was 
not  made  direct  and  universal ;  for  we  know  that  it 
was  never  God's  purpose  to  lay  on  us  more  than  we 
are  able  to  bear,  because  our  Lord  Himself  hath 
taught  us  that  "  the  Sabbath  was  made  for  man,  and 
not  man  for  the  Sabbath ;"  that  is,  as  a  holy  man* 
explains  it,  "greater  is  the  care  taken  of  the  health 
and  life  of  a  man,  than  the  keeping  of  the  Sabbath." 
With  regard  to  prayer,  however,  there  are  none  who 
are  accountable  beings  but  can  pray ;  and  with  re- 
gard to  alms,  the  very  poorest  and  most  destitute 
man  who  lives  may  address  his  fellow  sufferer  in  the 
words  of  St.  Peter,  "  Silver  and  gold  have  I  none, 
but  such  as  I  have  give  I  thee  ;"  may  at  least  share 

*  Cede  in  luc. 


ON    FASTING.  241 

his  sorrows,  and  cheer  him  with  kindness  and  sym- 
pathy. 

Bat,  my  brethren,  those  who  allege  that  their 
indisposition  to  fast  arises  from  their  being  unable  to 
find  a  direct  command  on  the  subject  in  holy  Scrip- 
ture, will  do  well  to  consider  whither  the  carrying 
out  of  such  a  principle  will  lead  them.  Are  they 
prepared  to  give  up  Infant  Baptism,  or  the  obser- 
vance of  the  Lord's  Day,  or  the  blessing  of  the 
Church  in  marriage,  or  the  Christian  burial  of  the 
dead  ?  Yet  for  none  of  these  can  we  bring  forward 
any  express  command.  And  yet,  in  behalf  of  fast- 
ing, we  can  allege  a  stronger  scriptural  warrant  than 
for  any  of  these.  We  can  allege  in  its  behalf,  not 
only  many  examples  of  holy  men  under  the  elder 
Covenant,*  not  only  much  that  has  been  written  in 
the  Prophets  and  Psalms  concerning  it,  but  that  it 
had  the  sanction  of  Him  to  Whom  both  the  Law  and 
the  Prophets  looked, — our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus 
Christ,  Who  fasted  for  forty  days  and  forty  nights, 

*  «  The  fast  of  Ai  under  Joshua  ;  at  Gibeah  under  the  Judges  ; 
at  Mizpah  under  Samuel ;  at  Hebron  under  David  ;  of  Jeremiah 
before  the  captivity ;  of  Daniel  under  it ;  of  Zachary  after  it ;  at 
Jerusalem,  of  the  Jews,  at  the  preaching  of  Joel ;  at  Nineve,  of 
the  Gentiles,  at  the  preaching  of  Jonas  :  all  these. .  .  .show  that  it 
was  no  stranger  with  God's  people,  so  long  as  the  Law  and  the 
Prophets  were  in  force." — Bp.  Andrewes'  Sermon. 
21* 


242  ON    FASTING. 

while  He  was  being  tempted  of  the  devil.  We  can 
allege  in  its  behalf,  that,  in  the  text  and  in  otiier 
passages  of  the  Gospel,  He  spake  of  it  as  of  a  custom 
which,  at  least,  had  within  it  the  elements  of  useful- 
ness to  the  souls  of  believers.  We  can  allege  in  its 
behalf,  that  it  was  the  constant  habit  of  the  Apostles 
and  early  disciples.  We  read  of  them  approving 
themselves  as  ministers  of  God,  as  in  other  things,  so 
"in  fastmgs;'^*  St.  Paul  speaks  of  himself  as  ''in 
fastings  often."!  St.  Luke  tells  us  that  it  was  while 
Cornelius, — that  man  of  prayer  and  alms-deeds — 
was  "fasting,"±  the  angel  appeared  unto  him  ;  and 
the  same  sacred  writer  both  mentions  the  fastings 
of  the  Church  at  Antioch,§  and  alludes  in  several 
places  to  the  fastings  which  preceded  the  ordination 
of  those  who  were  admitted  to  the  ministry  of  the 
Church.  II 

Nor  did  the  practice  cease  with  the  Apostles  and 
their  contemporaries.  Those  who  are  acquainted 
with  Ecclesiastical  history  are  well  aware  that  fast- 
ing always  formed  a  part  of  the  moral  discipline  of 
the  ancient  Church,  and  that  the  fasts  of  Lent,  and 
Pentecost,  and  Autumn,  and  Advent,  and  Epiphany, 
of  the  Wednesdays  and  Fridays,  and  at  other  sea- 

*  2  Cor.  vi.  5.  f  2  Cor.  xi.  27. 

+  Acts  X.  30.  §  Acts  xiii.  2. 

II  Acts  xiv.  23,  &c. 


ON    FASTING.  213 

sons,  were   of   early   appointmentj   and    generally- 
received.* 

The  practice  of  our  own  Church,  before  ihe  Re- 
formation, was  the  same  as  that  of  Rome,  with  whom 
then  she  held  communion  :  nor  in  consequence  of 
the  Reformation  has  she  rejected  the  use  of  fasting. 
On  the  contrary,  above  a  fourth  part  of  the  entire 
year, — the  forty  days  of  Lent,  the  Ember  days,  the 
Rogation  days,  the  Vigils  of  a  considerable  number 
of  Festivals,  and  all  the  Fridays  in  the  year,  except 
Christmas  day,  are  appointed  to  be  kept  as  fasts,  and 
to  be  sanctified  by  self-denial,  and  mortification  of  the 
flesh.  And  our  Church  puts  no  obstacles  in  the 
way  of  those  who  may  tliink  it  expedient  to  give  up  a 
still  larger  portion  of  the  year  to  fasting  in  private,  in 
order  that  the  flesh  being  subdued  to  the  spirit,  we 
may  obey  all  godly  notions,  in  righteousness  and  true 
hohness. 

It  appears  then  on  the  whole,  that  there  is  abun- 
dant  warrant   for   fasting,  both  from   the  letter   of 

*  See  Bishop  Gunning  on  the  Paschal,  or  Lent  Fast,  passim.  Of 
the  language  in  which  the  ancients  speak  of  the  advantage  of 
fasting,  let  the  following  extract  given  by  Bishop  Gunning  suffice. 
<'  Est  jejuniura  pax  corporis,  membrorum  decus,  robur  mentium, 
vigor  animarum,  castitatis  murus,  pudicitice  propugnaculum, 
civitas  sanctitatis,  magisterii  magisterinm,  disciplinarum  disci- 
pline, Ecclesiahiticffi  vice  viaticum  salutare." 

Chrysolog.  de  Jejunio.  Serm.  8. 


244  ON    FASTING. 

Holy  Scripture,  from  the  examples  of  tl  e  Saints 
in  all  ages,  and  from  the  injunctions  of  our  own 
Church  :  and  tliis  will  be  more  than  sufficient  to 
induce  those  who  desire  to  follow  Christ  and  His 
servants,  in  all  virtuous  and  godly  living,  to  adopt 
the  practice  so  far  as  it  is  in  their  power  to  do  so. 
For  such  persons  it  would  be  enough  if  we  could 
only  show  them  that  there  was  no  harm  in  fasting, 
and  that  it  might  by  possibility  aid  them  in  the  task 
of  bringing  themselves,  body  and  soul,  into  subjec- 
tion to  the  law  of  God ;  for  they  will  gladly  avail 
themselves  of  every  help  within  their  reach  :  but 
a  practice  which  comes  recommended  to  them  as 
fasting  does,  will  be  received  with  thankfulness,  and 
adopted  at  once. 

To  them,  it  will  be  no  argument  against  it  to  say 
that  the  custom  has  grown  obsolete,  and  that  few 
now-a-days  practice  it ;  because  in  the  first  place,  no 
earnest-minded  Christian  will  ever  think  of  taking 
the  habits  of  the  world  as  his  rule  of  action :  and 
secondly,  they  who  fast  according  to  the  directions 
given  by  our  blessed  Lord  in  the  text,  will  fast  in 
such  a  secret  manner,  that  hardly  any  body  will 
know  that  they  are  doing  so. 

To  them,  it  will  be  no  objection  against  the  custom 
to  know  that  it  is  liable  to  abuse ;  that  some  have 
fasted  in  order  to  gain   applause  from  men ;  that, 


ON    FASTING.  245 

some  it  has  led  to  self-righteousness,  and  others  to 
foiinalism  ;  and  that  some  have  looked  on  it  as  an 
end,  rather  than  as  a  means  towards  an  end.  These 
the  earnest-minded  Christian  will  look  on  as  the 
dangers  to  be  avoided:  but  he  will  not  shun  a  cer- 
tain advantage  through  fear  of  a  contingent  evil. 

The  Bible  and  the  Church  bid  him  fast,  and  there- 
fore if  he  could  himself  see  no  conceivable  good  in 
fasting,  he  would  feel  himself  bound  to  obey.  He 
would  endeavour  to  ascertain  what  rules  had  been 
laid  down  for  his  guidance,  and  having  ascertained 
them,  he  would  endeavour  to  do  his  best  to  carry 
them  out  in  his  practice.  ^ 

And  here  the  question  presents  itself,  what  rules 
has  our  Church  prescribed  on  the  subject  ?  The 
answer  is,  she  has  given  us  no  rules  at  all.  She  bids 
us  fast,  each  of  us  according  to  our  ability,  but  she 
does  not  tell  us  how  to  do  so.  And  this  was  a  most 
prudent  and  thoughtful  course  to  pursue  towards  her 
children.    - 

It  had  been  found  by  experience  that  minute  rules 
and  petty  distinctions  about  meats  and  drinks,  could 
never  be  of  universal  application,  and  had  a  great 
tendency  to  foster  Pharisaic  hypocrisy.  If,  when 
flesh  was  forbidden,  a  man  was  to  be  allowed  to  eat 
as  much  as  he  would  of  fish,  or  vegetables,  what  was 
it   but   a  mockery,   to  say  of  such  a  man  that  lie 


246  ON    FASTING. 

fasted?  It  was  always  a  temptation  to  adhere  to 
the  letter  of  the  rule  instead  of  acting  in  its  spirit. 
Accordingly,  while  our  Church  enjoins  bodily  morti- 
fication, she  leaves  the  manner  of  it  to  the  conscience 
of  each  individual.  She  acts  upon  the  same  princi- 
ple as  that  of  her  Lord,  when,  in  answer  to  the 
remarks  of  His  disciples  on  the  subject  of  the  expe- 
diency or  inexpediency  of  marriage,  He  replied, 
"All  men  cannot  receive  this  saying,  save  they  to 
whom  it  is  given.  .  .  .  He  that  is  able  to  7^eceive  it, 
let  him  receive  it.^'  ....  The  Church  well  knew 
that  there  are  those  who,  from  natural  weakness  of 
constiHition,  are  unable  to  bear  a  total  abstinence 
from  food,  for  any  considerable  length  of  time  ;  and 
others  who  would  injure  their  health  by  any  severity 
of  discipline.  Therefore,  she  lays  down  no  particular 
directions.  As  wuh  respect  to  alms,  she  says,  let 
every  man  give  according  to  his  ability,  not  grudg- 
ingly, nor  of  necessity,  for  God  loveth  a  cheerful 
giver,  so  with  regard  to  fasting,  she  would  have 
each  individual  exercise  such  an  amount  of  self- 
denial  as  the  strength  of  his  constitution  will  admit. 
It  is  no  act  of  holiness  to  injure  our  health  :  and  on 
the  other  hand  it  is  no  proof  of  zeal  to  shrink  from 
even  making  the  experiment  how  far  we  can  wean 
ourselves  from  self-indulgences. — There  may  be  some, 
who  on  a  fast-daV;  could  drop  one  meal,  or  even  two 


ON    FASTING.  *         247 

without  faintness  and  exhaustion.  Others,  on  the 
other  hand,  would  suffer  severely.  Let  each  do  ac- 
cording to  his  ahility.  He  who  can  abstain,  let  him 
abstain.  He  who  cannot,  let  him  contrive  to  take 
food  of  a  less  palatable  or  of  a  coarser  kind ;  or  if 
even  this  is  inexpedient,  let  him  use  some  other  self- 
denial  which  his  constitution  will  bear ;  let  him 
forego  some  expected  pleasure,  devote  something  to 
God's  service  which  he  had  intended  for  his  own  ;  let 
him  do  something,  in  short,  that  is  distasteful  to  him  ; 
not,  of  course,  as  if  there  was  any  merit  in  such  a 
proceeding,  but  simply  by  way  of  habituating  him- 
self to  self-denial,  and  mastering  his  corrupt  and 
rebellious  will.  Fasting, — I  cannot  repeat  it  too 
often, — is  not  an  end,  but  a  means,  and  therefore  if 
we  are  unable  to  avail  ourselves  of  this  means  we 
should  try  another.  In  itself,  fasting  is  nothing  ;  it 
is  only  valuable  when  it  helps  us  to  root  out  sin,  and 
anything  which  contributes  to  that  design  is  just  as 
useful  as  fasting. 

"We  are  wont,"  wrote  St.  Chrysostom, "  to  ask  one 
another,  how  many  weeks  we  have  fasted  during 
Lent ;  and  we  here  some  answering  two,  another 
three,  another  all.  But  what  advantage  is  it,  if  we 
have  kept  the  fast,  and  not  improved  our  conduct? 

If  a  man  tells  you,  I  have  fasted  the  whole  of  Lent, 
let  your  answer  be,  I  had  an  enemy  and  am  recon- 


248  -  ON    FASTING. 

ciled  to  him  ;  I  had  a  habit  of  reviling,  and  have  left 
it  off;  I  had  a  custom  of  swearing,  and  this  evil 
propensity  is  checked.  It  is  no  use  for  a  merchant 
to  cross  the  seas,  unless  he  returns  home  laden  with 
goods:  nor  is  there  any  use  in  our  fasting,  if  with 
the  act  itself,  all  further  good  ceases.  If  our  fasting 
has  consisted  merely  in  abstaining  from  meals,  when 
Lent  is  ended,  our  fast  will  have  passed  away.  But 
if  our  fast  consist  in  abstaining  from  sin,  when  the 
fast  has  come  to  an  end  the  benefit  will  still  remain, 
and  will  lay  up  for  us  treasures  in  the  heavens."* 

Thus  a  Father  of  the  Christian  Church  puts  fasting 
upon  its  true  principles,  according  to  the  light  which 
Scripture  had  already  thrown  upon  it.  For  what 
saith  the  Spirit,  speakiiig  by  the  mouth  of  the  Prophet 
Isaiah,  of  the  difference  between  a  counterfeit  fast 
and  a  true  one  ?  "  Wherefore  have  we  fasted,  say 
they,  and  Thou  seest  not?  wherefore  have  we 
afflicted  our  souls,  and  Thou  takest  no  knowledge  ? 
Behold  in  the  day  of  your  fast  ye  find  pleasure,  and 
exact  all  your  labours.  Behold  ye  fast,  for  strife,  and 
debate,  and  to  smite  with  the  fist  of  wickedness:  ye 
shall  not  fast  as  ye  do  this  day,  to  make  your  voice 
to  be  heard  on  high.  Is  it  such  a  fast  as  I  have 
chosen  ?  a  day  for  a  man  to  afflict  his  soul  ?  is  it  to 
bow  down  his  head  as  a  bulrush,  and  to  lay  sackcloth 

Chrys.  in  Aiitioch  :  Horn:  16. 


ON    PASTING.  249 

and  ashes  under  him?  wilt  thou  call  this  a  fast  and 
an  acceptable  day  to  the  Lord  ? 

Is  not  this  the  fast  that  I  have  chosen  ?  to  loose 
the  bands  of  wickedness,  to  undo  the  heavy  burdens, 
and  to  let  the  oppressed  go  free,  and  that  ye  break 
every  yoke.  Is  it  not  to  deal  thy  bread  to  the  hungry, 
and  that  thou  bring  the  poor,  that  are  cast  out,  to  thy 
house  ?  when  fhou  seest  the  naked,  that  thou  cover 
him,  and  that  thou  hide  not  thyself  from  thine  own 
flesh  .^" 

Enough  has,  I  trust,  been  now  said  to  satisfy  you 
that  while  fasting  is  a  duty  clearly  enjoined  by  the 
Bible  and  the  Church,  its  acceptableness  with  God 
wholly  depends  upon  the  spirit  hi  which  it  is  observed, 
and  the  results  to  which  it  leads.  But  since,  at  the 
present  time,  when  so  very  few  are  to  be  found  who 
fast  at  all,  or  v/ho  have  any  notion  of  obeying  the 
Church  with  readiness  and  simplicity,  there  seems 
less  danger  of  Pharisaic  hypocrisy  existing  among  us 
in  this  particular  than  in  many  others,  I  will  bring 
my  remarks  to  a  conclusion,  with  some  general 
observations  on  fasting. 

And  first,  I  would  exhort  you  to  remember  that 
fasting  is  but  one  point  among  several  which  should 
be  attended  to  in  a  season  of  humiliation.  Its  accom- 
paniments ought  always  to  be  strict  self-examination, 
confession  of  sins,  restitution  where  it  is  possible, 


250  ON    FASTING. 

prayer,  meditation,  and  alms-deeds.  If  these  tilings 
go  together  with  our  fasts,  there  is  little  danger  that 
our  bodily  mortifications  should  become  a  snare  to 
us,  that  we  should  do  them  in  order  to  attract  obser- 
vation, or  put  any  trust  in  them  when  done. 

Secondly,  with  regard  to  the  act  itself,  it  must  be 
regulated  according  to  our  ability.*  Those  who  have 
never  fasted  should  not  attempt  too  much  at  first, 
and  be  specially  careful  lest  their  bodily  discomfort 
should  lead  to  peevishness  and  irritability,  or  inca- 
pacitate them  for  the  discharge  of  their  daily  course  of 
duty.  Those,  again,  who  are  not  strong  in  health,  or 
•who  are  exposed  to  hard  labour,  must  regulate  their 
abstinence  accordingly.  Tliose  who  cannot  fast  at 
all  will  contrive  some  other  means  of  mortification. 
If  they  be  in  the  highest  classes  of  society,  they  will 
take  care  that  what  ought  to  be  a  time  of  mourning 
is  not  turned  by  them  into  a  time  of  feasting  ;  they 
will  neither  go  to  friends'  houses  for  such  a  purpose, 
nor  will  they  invite  friends  to  their  own;  they  will 
give  largely  towards  purposes  of  charity  ;  they  will 
deny  themselves  as  much  as  possible;  they  will  give 
themselves  up  to  retirement  and  prayer.  In  other 
ranks  of  life  the  same  kind  of  system  will  be  pursued. 

'?  *  "  The  four  excusations  are  either  bodily  infirmity,  or  ordinary 
penury  of  diet  from  poverty,  or  necessity  of  greater  toil  and  bodily 
labour,  or  zeal  of  some  greater  good  offering  itself  upon  dispensing 
with  the  fast."—Bisuop  Gunxing, 


ON    FASTING.  251 

Servants,  perhaps,  will  desire  of  their  masters  that 
the  weekly  cost  of  their  maintenance  shall  be  reduced 
during  Lent,  and  the  sum  so  saved  ofiered  for  some 
pious  object.  And  so  in  all  other  cases.  Where 
there  is  a  will  there  is  a  way.  Whoever  is  in  earnest 
will  find  out  some  way  for  himself,  and. a  far  better 
way,  probably,  than  others  could  point  out  to  him, 
of  bringing  his  body  into  subjection,  and  mortifying 
his  natural  appetites. 

The  main  thing  for  ns  all  to  do  is  to  keep  our  eyes 
fixed  on  the  injunctions  and  practice  of  our  blessed 
Lord  and  His  apostles.  "  It  was  the  spirit  of  God," 
observes  an  ancient  Bishop  of  our  Church,  "  which 
led  Christ  into  the  wilderness  to  fast  there  like  a 
hermit:  you  may  well  know,  therefore, what  spirit  it 
is  that  sets  any  one  up  to  fast  like  a  hypocrite.'^  Our 
Lord's  injunction  in  the  text  was  levelled  against  the 
hypocrisy  of  the  Jewish  outward  fasts,  and  that  He 
might  go  at  once  to  the  very  root  of  the  evil  which 
renders  self-denial  so  necessary  to  us  all.  He  added, 
"Lay  not  up  for  yourselves  treasures  upon  earth, 
where  moth  and  rust  doth  corrupt,  and  thieves  break 
through  and  steal,  but  lay  up  for  yourselves  treasures 
in  heaven,  where  neither  moth  nor  rust  doth  corrupt, 
and  where  thieves  do  not  break  through,  nor  steal. 
For  where  your  treasure  is,  there  will  your  heart 
be  also." 


252  ^   ON    FASTING. 

This  is  tlie  sum  of  the  whole  matter.  If  we  are 
able  to  fast,  we  should  do  so.  We  are  exhorted  to 
it  by  God,  and  the  Church,  but  we  must  fast  to  God, 
not  to  the  world ;  to  our  own  hearts,  not  to  other 
men's  eyes;  to  conscience,  not  to  form. 

And  think  not,  that  if  you  so  fast,  you  will  lose 
your  reward.— -No,  you  will  have  a  witness  in  your 
own  approving  conscience,  and  a  witness  in  Him, 
Whose  eye  never  slumbers,  and  who  records  the 
feeblest  effort  made  for  His  Son's  sake  in  the  path  of 
holiness. 

Deny  yourselves,  then,  to  follow  Christ;  let  each 
day  have  its  daily  cross,  and  you  will  leain,  ere  long, 
that  what  now  seems  hardest  and  bitterest  to  you, 
has  in  it  a  sweetness  more  exquisite  than  can  be 
found  in  self-indulgence  and  worldly  joy.  Life  will 
become,  what  it  was  intended  to  be,  a  continual 
preparation  for  death;  and  temporal  self-denial,  a 
foretaste  of  eternal  enjoyment. 

And  when  the  toil  and  travail  of  this  miserable 
world  are  ended,  you  will  look  back  on  the  mor- 
tifications, and  prayers,  and  tears  of  your  earthly 
pilgrimage,  as  the  means  which,  under  grace,  and 
for  your  Saviour's  merits,  have  borne  you  safe  and 
undismayed  to  the  mansions  of  the  Saint's  in  light, — 
and  to  the  joyous  Alleluias  of  your  heavenly  home  ! 


SERMON  XVI. 

OF    SOWING    BESIDE    ALL    WATERS. 

Isaiah  xxxii.  20. 

Blessed  are  ye  that  sow  beside  all  waters. 

There  seems  little  doubt  that  the  prophecy  con- 
tained in  the  chapter  from  whence  this  text  is  taken, 
had  a  primary,  and  secondary  fulfilment ;  the  latter 
being  the  great  event,  since  the  Messiah  Himself 
was  connected  with  it;  while  the  former  related 
only  to  the  temporal  fortunes  of  the  house  of  Judah 
at  a  period  but  few  years  subsequently  to  that  in 
which  it  was  delivered.  Thus  type  and  antetype 
meet  in  the  same  prediction. 

The    sovereign  alluded  to,  as  "  the  King"  that 

should  "reign  in  righteousness,"  was  Hezekiah.*    If 

the  prophecy  was  uttered  in  the  days  of  Ahab,  we 

may  read  its  accomplishment  in  the  early  part  of 

Hezekiah's  reign  :  but  if  that  monarch  was  actually 

*  See  Lowlh  and  Pole  (iii.  329)  in  loc,  and  also  Townsend's 
Chron.  Arr- 

22* 


254  OP  SOWING 

on  the  throne,  when  Isaiah  published  his  tidings  of 
future  good,  then  we  must  look  for  its  accomplish- 
ment in  the  period  immediately  succeeding  the 
invasion  of  the  iVssyrians,  and  the  slaughter  of  Sen- 
nacherib; when,  after  "many  days"  of  trouble,  God's 
people  were  permitted  (as  it  had  been  foretold  they 
should)  to  "  dwell  in  peaceable  habitations,  and  in 
sure  dwellings,  and  in  quiet  resting  places ;"  when 
"  the  work  of  righteousness  was  peace,  and  the  effect 
of  righteousness,  quietness  and  assurance  for  ever  :'' 
when  the  effect  (that  is,  as  Bishop  Lowth  explains 
the  passage)  of  God's  goodness,  and  man's  reforma- 
tion, should  give  peace  and  unanimity  at  home,  and 
freedom  and  security  from  the  invasion  of  enemies 
from  without. 

There  is,  as  I  have  said,  no  question  but  that  the 
prophecy  before  us  had  its  immediate  and  primary 
fulfilment  in  the  days  of  Hezekiah ;  but  after  all 
allowance  made  for  the  uncertainty  of  interpretation, 
and  for  a  fact  which  is  not  without  its  weight, 
namely,  that  none  of  the  writers  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment have  applied  any  part  of  this  chapter  to  our 
Saviour,  still  it  seems  impossible  not  to  admit  that 
there  are  portions  of  the  prediction  which  relate 
to  happier  times  than  Hezekiah  ever  lived  to 
enjoy ;  and  that  when  we  read  of  days  in  which  "  the 
Spirit  shall  be  poured  from  on  high,"  in  which  "the 


BESIDE    ALL    WATERS.  255 

eyes  of  tliem  that  see,  shall  not  be  dim,  and  llic  cars 
of  them  that  hear  shall  hearken  ;"  in  which  "  the 
heart  also  of  the  rash  shall  understand  knowledge, 
and  the  tongue  of  the  stammerers  shall  be  ready  to 
speak  plainly,"*  we  shall  surely  err  through  excess 
of  caution,  if  we  restrict  the  words  of  the  Prophet  to 
events  which  took  place  in  Hezekiah's  reign,  and  do 
not  allow  ourselves  to  believe  that  the  Holy  Spirit 
had  a  two-fold  purpose  in  promulgating  this  pre- 
diction, of  which  the  most  important  was  to  shadow 
out  the  glorious  increase  of  grace  and  holiness,  which 
in  a  later  day  should  be  produced  under  the  govern- 
ment of  Christ,  and  the  privileges  which  should  be 
then  poured  forth  upon  the  Church. 

I  believe  that  it  was  to  this  latter  dispensation  nK)re 
especially,  indeed  I  think  I  might  say,  exclusively, 
that  the  words  which  I  have  chosen  for  my  text 
allude ;  and  which  I  shall  now  endeavour  to  explain 
to  you,  in  the  hope  that,  by  God's  mercy,  they  may 
assist  you  to  the  discharge  of  a  most  important 
Christian  duty,  for  which  I  fear  that  many  persons 
scarcely  hold  themselves  to  be  responsible. 

"  Blessed,"  saith  the  son  of  Amoz,  "  are  ye  that 
sow  beside  all  waters,  that  send  forth  thither  the  feet 
of  the  ox  and  the  ass." 

Blessed^  (that  is,  and  the  prophet  seems  to  be 

*  See  Isaiah  xxxii.  3,  4,  15, 


256  OF    SOWING 

drawing  a  contrast  between  those  iiappy  times,  and 
his  own)  blessed  shall  those  spiritual  husbandmen 
be,  who,  instead  of  ministering  to  a  stifi-necked  and 
gain-saying  people,  wasting  their  strength  in  a 
barren  and  a  weary  land,  wliere  no  water  is,  shall 
sow.  their  precious  seed  in  a  soil  duly  prepared  for 
its  reception,  wherever  there  is  moisture  to  promote 
its  growth,  and  wherever  a  river  can  be  found  to 
irrigate  and  fertilize  the  lands  through  which  it 
flows.  Thither  sliall  these  husbandmen  resort,  there 
shall  they  plough  the  soil  as  best  they  can ; — the 
ass  and  the  ox  (hitherto  forbidden  by  Moses'  law  to 
be  yoked  together*)  shall  be  united  in  one  toil ; 
distinction  shall  no  longer  be  made  between  Jew  and 
Gentile;  what  God  hath  cleansed  shall  no  longer  be 
called  common ;  the  Church  Catholic  shall  comprise 
all ;  all  who  will  shall  be  led  in  green  pastures  besides 
the  waters  of  comfort. 

There  is  a  parable  you  see,  here,  as  well  as  a 
prophecy. 

Now  the  parable  is  this.  The  seed  is  the  Word 
of  God.  They  who  are  said  to  be  blessed  are  those 
who,  having  valued  that  Word  themselves  above 
gold,  yea,  above  much  fine  gold,  desire  to  make 
others  appreciate  it  likewise,  and  avail  themselves  of 
the  privileges  within  their  reach.  And  the  land 
*  Deut,  xxil  10, 


BESIDE    ALL    WATERS.  257 

"beside  all  waters,"  in  which  it  is  to  be  sown,  is  the 
hearts  of  ail  who  receive  it,  and  sutler  it  to  take 
root  within  them. 

In  a  few  words,  therefore,  we  may  state  the 
Prophet's  meaning  to  be  this ;  that  every  one  who 
endeavours  to  co-operate  (if  I  may  so  speak)  with 
the  Holy  Ghost,  in  inducing  those  who  are  within 
the  sphere  of  His  influence  to  become  faithful  follow- 
ers of  Christ,  shall  receive  a  special  blessing.* 

Here  then,  brethren,  are  the  questions  which  I 
would  have  each  of  you  very  solemnly  put  to  your- 
selves ;  How  far  have  any  of  you  desired  to  obtain 
this  blessing  ?  What  steps  have  you  hitherto  taken 
to  secure  it  ? 

Knowing  as  we  all  must,  both  ivhal  we  are,  and 
tvhere  we  are, — that  we  are  weak  and  frail,  and 
fallen  creatures,  living  in  an  evil  world,  where 
everything  from  within,  and  from  without,  is  con- 
tinually tempting  us  to  our  ruin,  it  might  have  been 
expected  that  for  our  own  sake,  and  for  our  breth- 
ren's sake,  our  lives  would  be  spent  in  mutually 
assisting  each  other,  in  mutual  warnings  and 
encouragements,  and  in  striving  to  attract  all,  over 
whom  we  have  any  influence,  to  come  and  tread  that 

'  *  "Felices  sunt  Evangelii  niinistri,  qui  omnes  nullo  neque 
docentium,  neque  docendorum,  gmlxt  discriraine  docent." 

Castalio  IX  Pole, 


258  OF    SOWING 

narrow  heavenward  path,  in  which  our  daily  prayer 
is,  to  be  preserved  ourselves. 

But  is  this  the  case  ?  is  this  the  general  way  with 
mankind  ?  does  our  experience  give  us  any  such  a 
favourable  view  of  human  nature,  of  our  mutual 
sympathy  for  each  other,  of  our  mutual  interest  in 
each  other's  welfare,  as  to  justify  us  in  the  conclusion, 
that  the  spiritual  good  of  our  fellow  creatures  is  at 
all  a  matter  of  deep  and  absorbing  interest  to  us  ? 

God,  who  seeth  and  knoweth  all  things,  knows  our 
hearts  better  than  we  do  ourselves,  and  when  He 
thought  it  needful  to  proclaim  that  He  had  a  blessing 
in  store  for  them  ^'that  sow  beside  all  waters;"  for 
those  who  should  exert  themselves  to  bring  their 
fellow-creatures  to  a  knowledge  and  a  practice  of  the 
truth,  He  knew  what  was  in  man,  and  that  seljish- 
ness,  (by  which  I  mean,  that  unholy  self-love,  which 
the  New  Testament  speaks  of  as  opposed  to  the  love 
of  God,)  was  the  strongest  feature  in  his  character. 

Do  I  seem  to  speak  harshly  ?  The  matter  is  one 
which  we  may  soon  put  to  the  test.  Among  us  all 
here  present,  is  there  one  who  will  undertake  to  say 
that,  even  within  the  narrow  limits  of  his  own  family 
and  kindred,  it  is  his  constant  endeavour  to  make 
God's  way  better  known,  and  His  will  better  obeyed? 
Can  a  man,  for  instance,  say  that  he  does,  who  with 
respect  to  his  own  children,  is  more  eager  to  help 


BESIDE    ALL    WATERS.  259 

them  on  in  the  world,  than  to  make  them  brave  and 
steadfast  soldiers  of  Christ  crucified,  who,  though  in 
the  world,  are  not  of  it  ? — Can  any  man  say  that  he 
does,  who,  Avhen  he  sees  a  kinsman  or  a  friend 
habitually  sinning  against  God,  or  leading  a  careless 
life  without  thought  of,  or  care  for  religion,  hesitates 
through  false  delicacy  or  false  shame,  or  from  the 
fear  of  giving  pain,  to  warn  him  of  his  danger  ?  Can 
any  one  say  that  he  does,  who  is  not  systematically 
framing  his  own  life  and  conversation  in  such  a  man- 
ner as  to  adorn  the  doctrine  of  God  our  Saviour,  in 
all  things ;  to  let  His  light  shine  before  men,  to  give 
no  offence  in  anything,  to  throw  no  stumbling-block 
in  a  weaker  brother's  path,  to  set  no  doubtful 
example  for  the  young,  to  put  no  dangerous  tempta- 
tion before  the  inexperienced ;  but,  on  the  contrary, 
to  make  religion  appear  so  lovely  in  the  eyes  of^men, 
her  ways  so  full  of  pleasantness,  and  her  paths  of 
peace,  as  to  win  them  towards  that,  from  which  their 
natural  impulse  is  to  flee? 

Alas,  my  brethren,  I  fear  that  when  we  come  to 
examine  ourselves  fairly  in  these  particulars,  few 
among  us  will  be  found  who  can  avouch  for  them- 
selves, that,  so  far  as  human  infirmity  will  permit, 
they  are  uniformly  striving  to  make  even  those  who 
are  nearest  and  dearest  to  them,  and  to  whom  they 
are  bound  by  the  closest  ties  of  blood  and  affection, 


260  OF  sovviNa 

such,  as  in  their  hearts  they  know  God  would  have 
them  to  be,  such  as  the  voice  of  conscience  tells  them 
they  might  contribute  to  make  them. — But,  how 
Hmited  and  contracted  a  view  of  our  duties  would 
this  be,  even  if  we  realized  it,  and  carried  it  out  in 
our  practice  !  The  text  gives  us  another  measure  by 
which  we  may  learn  our  responsibilities.  We  are 
there  taught  that  if  we  would  receiv^e  a  blessing  from 
the  Lord,  and  righteousness  from  the  God  of  our 
salvation,  we  must  "  Sow  beside  all  waters ;"  not 
merely  on  the  banks  of  this  favoured  stream,  which 
we  hallow  with  the  associations  of  childhood,  or 
beside  the  margin  of  that  glassy  lake,  on  which  we 
have  seen  the  sunshine  glittering,  in  our  happiest 
hours:  but  we  must  "sow  beside  all  waters,  the 
wild  and  the  headlong  cataract,  the  dark  and  stag- 
nant pool,  as  well  as  beside  the  clear  and  sparkling 
watercourses  which  our  fancy  loves.  How  little  so 
ever  may  be  the  interest  we  feel  in  the  region  around 
us,  how  unpromising  soever  may  be  the  aspdct  of 
the  sky  above  us,  how  parched  and  arid,  bleak  and 
desolate,  or  rank  and  choked  up  with  weeds,  may  be 
the  aspect  of  the  soil,  we  must  remember  that  our 
part  is  to  follow  the  example  of  Flim,  who  causeth 
Plis  sun  to  shine  on  the  evil  and  on  the  good,  and 
sendeth  rain  on  the  just  and  on  the  unjust.  We  must 
be  husbandmen  diligent  and  wise ;  we  must  put  our 


RESIDE    ALL    WATERS.  2G1 

hands  to  the  plough,  and  then  sow  the  good  seed, 
leaving  it  to  Him  to  give  the  precious  fruits  of 
increase,  at  Whose  Word,  "  the  eartli  bringeth  forth 
fruit  of  herself;  first  the  blade,  then  the  ear;'^  and 
after  that,  the  full  corn  in  the  ear;"  and  Who,  "when 
the  fruit  is  brought  forth,  immediately  putteth  in  the 
sickle,  because  the  harvest  is  come." 

But  what  is  the  seed  which  we  are  to  sow?  It  is 
to  be  the  implanting  of  faith,  of  Christian  principle, 
of  godly  fear  in  our  fellow-Christians'  hearts.  It 
is  to  be  "  the  word  in  season,"  "  the  cup  of  cold 
water"  given  for  Christ's  sake,  "  the  soft  answer" 
that  turneth  away  wrath,  the  friendly  warning,  the 
affectionate  expostulation,  the  honest,  yet  humble, 
expression  of  opinion,  the  cheerful  encouragement ; 
all  these  are  various  kinds  of  good  seed.  The  good 
seed  is  sown  when  we  "hold  up  the  weak,  heal  the 
sick,  bind  up  the  broken,  bring  again  the  out-casts, 
seek  the  lost :"  but  believe  me,  my  brethren,  the  best 
and  most  fruitful  seed  of  all,  is  the  quiet,  consistent 
example  of  a  holy  life;  faith  that  worketh  by  love, — 
faith  unfeigned,  and  that  love  which  is  the  fulfilling 
of  the  law. 

Here,  then,  is  seed  which  all  may  sow ;  here  is 

seed  which  they  who  love  God  will  sow  "'beside  all 

waters."     Young  or  old,  rich  or  poor,  all  may  sow 

good  seed.     Wherever  3^ou  are,  whatever  may  be 

23 


262  OF    SOWING 

your  calling,  there  is  still  a  field  before  you  into 
which  you  may  cast  the  precious  grain.  In  your 
families  or  in  the  world,  among  strangers  or  friends, 
amid  your  most  active  occupations  as  well  as  in  the 
seasons  of  leisure,  you  have,  each  of  you,  in  his  own 
sphere  and  capacity,  the  opportunity  of  setting  that 
in  th3  soil  which  may  hereafter  take  root  and  flourish, 
to  the  endless  benefit  of  yourself  and  others.  Each, 
in  his  respective  walk,  may  leave  behind  him  the 
trace  of  a  good  example,  for  the  guidance,  and  com- 
foit,  and  encouragement  of  his  brethren. 

I  know  it  may  be  said  that  the  attempt  to  do  good 
universally,  to  bring  all  our  friends,  acquaintance, 
and  dependents  to  obedience  to  the  laws  of  the  Gos- 
pel, is  a  disheartening,  a  thankless,  a  hopeless  task. 
But  what  then?  Granting  the  assertion  to  be  true, 
which,  of  course,  1  do  not,  ought  the  difficulty  or 
even  impracticability  of  what  he  attempts  to  be  an 
hindrance  to  one  who  has  faith  in  Christ,  and  in  the 
strengthening  grace  of  His  Spirit  ?     Surely  no. 

The  fact  is  that  if  the  undertaking  seem  disheart- 
ening, that  is  your  own  fault :  but  thankless  it  is  not ; 
hopeless  it  is  not.  It  is  not,  cannot  be  thankless  to 
those  who  have  faith  in  the  promise,  "  Cast  thy  bread 
upon  the  waters,  and  thou  shalt  find  it  after  many 
days.'^  Discouragement  is  a  trial,  and  ingratitude  is 
a  trial,  but  who  are  we  that  we  should  expect  to 


BESIDE    ALL     WATERS.  2G3 

escape  trials.  "Behold  the  husbandman  wailcth  for 
the  precious  fruit  of  the  earth,  and  hath  long  patience 
for  it,  until  he  receive  the  early  and  latter  rain.  Be 
ye  also  patient."  The  good  seed  you  have  sown 
may  long  lie  dormant,  but  who  can  say  that  when 
the  favourable  opportunity  ariseth  it  will  not  revive 
and  grow,  and  bring  forth  precious  increase  ?  The 
working  of  the  leaven  may  not  be  seen  at  once,  but 
who,  on  that  account,  will  venture  to  deny  that  when 
it  has  been  fairly  mingled  with  the  mass,  the  whole 
shall  not  be  leavened  ? 

And  as  for  those  who  would  speak  of  the  task  as 
hopeless,  all  I  can  say  is  that  "  hopeless"  is  a  term 
which  the  Christian  will  never  apply  to  his  Christian 
exertions.  He  must  hope  against  hope;  and,  as  I 
have  already  said,  weak  indeed  must  be  his  faith,  if 
he  cannot  support  himself  under  the  recollection,  that 
amid  the  disappointments  of  this  nature,  he  is  but 
bearing  a  portion  of  his  Master's  cross,  and  that,  at 
any  rate,  he  is  working  both  for,  and  with  the  Holy 
Spirit  of  God. 

If,  however,  you  tell  me  that  you  find  the  attempt 
to  re-call  the  sinner  from  the  error  of  his  ways  is  a 
disheartening  task,  then  I  must  assure  you,  that  that 
very  fact  shows  that  you  are  working  altogether  upon 
a  wrong  principle.  If  you  are  labouring  to  promote 
the  good  of  others,  and  expecting  the  reward  of 


264  OF    SOWING 

pleasurable  feelings  and  gratifying  emotions  from  the 
success  of  3^our  labours, — painting  visionary  scenes 
of  earthly  bliss  and  conscious  satisfaction  in  the  suc- 
cess of  pious  exertions,  then  I  tell  you  at  once  that 
you  are  laying  your  foundations  in  the  sand, 
encouraging  hopes  that  never  can  be  realized  while 
human  nature  continues  what  it  is,  and  that  your 
exertions  will  begin,  continue,  and  end  in  disappoint- 
ment. If  you  would  really  promote  the  cause  of 
religion  among  your  fellow-creatures,  you  must 
follow  the  system  (if  I  may  so  venture  to  express 
myself)  adopted,  and  be  content  with  the  treatment 
received  by  your  Saviour.  You  will  pray,  and 
labour,  and  exert  yourself  in  behalf  of  others,  without 
being  sanguine  as  to  any  immediate  and  visible 
result  of  your  labours,  your  exertions,  or  your 
prayers.  You  will  not  "seek  great  things"*  for 
yourself:  you  will  be  content  if  you  can  turn  t>ne 
sinner  from  the  error  of  his  way.  For,  as  I  have 
already  asked.  Whose  disciples  are  you  ?  Is  it  not 
enough  that  the  disciple  should  be  as  his  Master,  and 
the  servant  as  his  Lord  ?  What  can  be  the  amount 
of  your  weariness  and  painfulness,  of  your  sorrows 
and  disappointments  when  compared  with  His  ? 
Why  are  you  to  expect  thanks  and  gratitude  when 
so  Uttle  awaited  Him  ? 

*  Jeremiah  xxv.  5. 


BESIDE    ALL    WATERS.  265 

"  If  ye  love  them  which  love  yon,  what  thank 
have  ye  ?  do  not  even  the  pnblicans  the  same  ?  If 
yc  do  good  to  them  which  do  good  to  you,  what 
thank  have  ye  ?  do  not  even  the  publicans  the  same  ? 
And  if  ye  lend  to  them  of  whom  ye  hope  to  receive, 
what  thank  have  ye  ?  for  sinners  also  lend  to  sinners, 
to  receive  as  much  again."  But,  my  brethren,  this 
is  thankworthy,  to  love,  and  do  good,  and  lend, 
hoping  for  nothing  again :  "  and  your  reward  shall 
be  great,  and  ye  shall  be  the  children  of  the  Highest, 
for  He  is  kind  to  the  unthankful  and  the  evil." 

No;  the  course  for  us  to  pursue  is  to  go  on  steadily, 
quietly,  consistently,  exerting  ourselves  in  the  cause 
of  Christ  and  His  Gospel,  sowing  the  good  seed 
beside  all  waters,  not  devoting  ourselves  to  one,  and 
forgetting  another,  but  making  ourselves,  so  far  as 
we  can,  generally  useful  to  all,  trying  to  lead  all, 
whom  we  can  influence,  with  us  in  the  path  to 
heaven,  and  encouraging  them  in  the  words  of  Moses 
to  the  Midianite  of  old :  "  We  are  journeying  to  the 
land  of  which  the  Lord  hath  said  I  will  give  it  you ; 
come  thou  with  us,  and  we  will  do  thee  goodP 

Our  duty  is  to  labour,  each,  in  our  several  stations, 
to  promote  the  spiritual  welfare  of  all  whom  we  can 
reach,  whether  by  word  or  good  example.  Much 
my  brethren,  to  encourage  you,  much  to  delight  you, 
much  that  will  be  gratifying  to  your  feelings,  you 
23* 


266  OF    SOWING 

will  undoubtedly  meet  with.  And  you  need  neither 
be  insensible  to  such  returns,  nor  unthankful  for 
them  :  but  thei/  are  not  the  things,  the  hope  of  which 
must  incite  you  to  exertion. 

What  you  do  must  be  done  for  ChrisVs  sake ; 
because  you  love  Him ;  because  you  love  His  little 
ones,  and  "  His  brethren  that  are  in  the  world  ;" 
because  you  desire  to  be  like  Him,  and  to  follow  His 
steps ;  because  from  Him,  and  Him  only,  you  look 
for  your  reward. 

This  must  be  your  motive,  your  principle  of  action. 
In  this,  amid  disappointments,  you  shall  find  support 
and  encouragement ;  in  this  you  shall  assuredly  find 
hereafter,  your  eternal  recompence  of  glory. 

Bliss  more  perfect  than  tongue  can  tell,  or  heart 
conceive,  shall  be  the  portion  of  those  for  whom  even 
the  lowest  place  in  heaven  is  prepared  :  but  if,  as  we 
stand  before  the  throne  of  God,  redeemed  ourselves, 
and  absorbed  in  the  reality  of  our  own  happiness, 
and  the  mercies  of  a  Saviour's  love, — if,  I  say,  that 
joy  can  receive  an  addition  which  will  overwhelm 
us  with  its  fulness  ;— yea,  if,  in  our  unfading  crown 
of  glory,  one  more  jewel  may  be  yet  inserted,  which 
shall  increase  its  blinding  lustre,  and  enhance  its  in- 
estimable value,  that  addition  to  our  joy  shall  be  to 
find  the  seed  we  have  sown  beside  all  waters,  rippned 
for    an    harvest,    whose    fruits,— =^^ good    measure; 


BESIDE    ALL    WATERS.  267 

pressed  down,  and  shaken  togetlier,  and  running 
over"  is  now  returned  into  our  own  bosoms; — that 
jewel  in  our  crown  shall  be  the  knowledge  that  many, 
yea,  that  one  immortal  soul,  aye,  of  the  poorest,  the 
weakest,  the  most  ignorant  of  mankind,  has  been 
brought,  through  our  instrumentality,  to  the  Cross  of 
Christ,  and  that  we  with  him,  and  he  with  us,  are 
now  secure  for  ever  amid  the  joys  of  our  Lord. 


SERMON  XVII. 

THE    TROMISES    AN     ENCOURAGEMENT     TO    EXERTION, 
[a  sermon  for  all  saint's  day.] 

Luke  xiv.  22. 
And  yet  there  is  room. 

*'  A  CERTAIN  maii/^  said  our  blessed  Lord,  in  reply 
to  one  who  had  expressed  his  sense  of  the  blessedness 
of  those  to  whom  it  shonld  be  given  to  eat  bread  in 
the  kingdom  of  God, — "  A  certain  man  made  a  great 
supper,  and  bade  many  :  and  sent  his  servant  at 
supper  time  to  say  to  them  that  were  bidden,  Come ; 
for  all  things  are  now  read}^  And  they  all  with  one 
consent  began  to  make  excuse.  The  first  said  unto 
him,  1  have  bought  a  piece  of  ground,  and  I  must 
needs  go  and  see  it:  I  pray  thee  have  me  excused. 
And  another  said,  I  have  bought  five  yoke  of  oxen, 
and  I  go  to  prove  them  :  I  pray  thee  have  me  excused. 
And  another  said,  I  have  married  a  wife,  and,  there- 
fore I   cannot  come.     So    that   servant  came,   and 


270  THE    PROMISES    AN 

showed  his  Lord  these  things.  Then  the  master  of 
the  house  being  angrjr  said  to  his  servant,  Go  out 
quickly  into  the  streets  and  lanes  of  the  ci;y,  and 
bring  in  hither  the  poor,  and  the  maimed,  and  the 
halt,  and  the  blind.  And  the  servant  said.  Lord,  it  is 
done  as  thou  hast  commanded,  and  yet  there  is  room. 
And  the  Lord  said  unto  the  servant.  Go  out  into  the 
high w  ays  and  hedges,  and  compel  them  to  come  in, 
that  my  house  may  be  filled.  For  I  say  unto  you, 
that  none  of  those  men  which  were  bidden  shall 
taste  of  my  supper." 

It  can  be  scarcely  needful,  my  brethren,  for  me  to 
remind  you,  that  this  parable  was  addressed  origi- 
nally to  the  Jews,  and  had  its  primary  reference  to 
their  reception  of  God's  proffered  mercies  in  Christ 
Jesus.  They  had  been  first  invited  as  the  most 
favoured  guests  to  the  "great  supper."  The  lost 
sheep  of  the  house  of  Israel  were  first  called  into  the 
fold.     To  them  the  Gospel  was  first  preached. 

But  they  refused  the  gracious  invitation  :  they 
would  not  be  convinced  in  spite  of  the  clearest 
evidence  that  God  could  give  or  man  receive,  that 
the  Lord  Jesus  was  He  to  whom  all  the  prophets 
gave  witness ;  their  pride  and  their  prejudices  forbade 
them  to  acknowledge  Him  to  be  the  Messiah,  Who 
confessed  unhesitatingly  that  His  kingdom  was  not 
of  this  world  ;  they  shut  their  ears  against  the  "glad 


ENCOURAGEMENT    TO    EXERTION.  271 

tidings  of  great  joy;"  they  evii-intreated  the  messen- 
gers ;  yea,  they  crucified  the  King's  Son, — the  Eternal 
Son  of  God. 

And  so  in  due  time,  the  punishment  threatened  in 
the  parable,  came  upon  them.  Not  one  of  those 
who  were  bidden  and  still  refused  to  come,  were 
made  involuntary  partakers  of  the  privileges  of  the 
Gospel.  In  the  path  they  had  chosen  they  were 
allowed  to  walk;  in  the  choice  they  had  made  they 
were  permitted  to  abide.  They  were  left  to  them- 
selves to  receive  the  recompense  that  was  meet, 
namely,  that  they  should  eat  the  fruit  of  their  own 
devices.  In  a  few  years  after  they  had  filled  up  the 
measure  of  their  iniquities,  by  rejecting  and  crucify- 
ing the  Redeemer,  those  dreadful  judgments  of  God, 
long  foretold,  all  came  to  pass ;  their  house  was  left 
unto  them  desolate ;  their  beloved  Zion,  the  city  of 
David,  was  miserably  overthrown  by  the  Roman 
armies ;  myriads  of  their  people  were  destroyed  by 
famine,  and  the  sword;  myriads  were  led  away 
captive,  their  place  and  name  as  a  nation,  were 
known  no  more ;  and  they  accomplished  the  pre- 
dictions which  they  had  disbelieved,  by  becoming 
"  an  astonishment,  a  proverb,  and  a  by-word  among 
all  nations  whither  the  Lord"  hath  ''  led  them.'^ 

To   the   Jews,  then,   primarily,  was  the   parable 
spoken  ;  but  it  was  not  spoken  to  them  alone.    Like 


272  THE    PROMISES    AN 

all  otlier  similar  discourses  of  our  gracious  Lord,  it 
was  so  framed  as  to  convey  its  admonitions  to  the 
Church  in  all  ages,  and  but  little  observation  is  re- 
quired to  detect  beneath  its  surface  much  which  is 
full  of  reproof,  of  correction,  of  instruction  in  righte- 
ousness to  us,  upon  whom  the  ends  of  the  world 
are  come. 

To  us,  sinners  of  the  Gentiles,  admitted  by  God's 
free  grace  into  the  Church's  fold,  belongs  the  applica- 
tion of  the  parable  in  its  spiritual,  as  to  the  chosen 
people  of  Israel  of  old,  in  its  literal  sense. — We  are 
they, — the  poor,  the  maimed,  the  halt  and  the  blind, 
the  dwellers  under  hedges,  and  by  the  highway  side, 
— who  were  called  to  the  supper,  when  the  first 
invited  guests  had  excused  themselves. 

Let  us  then  attend  to  this  application  of  the  parable 
reverently,  and  study  those  parts  of  it  which  more 
immediately  concern  ourselves. 

He  who  makes  the  great  supper,  and  bids  many  is 
Christ  our  Lord.  By  the  supper  is  meant  that  Gospel 
kingdom  into  which  we  were  all  called  and  admitted, 
when  by  Holy  Baptism  we  were  made  partakers  of 
its  present  privileges,  were  allowed  to  appropriate  to 
ourselves  its  gracious  promises,  and  admitted  to  the 
hope  of  its  glorious  rewards. — Those  who  are  sent  to 
invite  us  to  this  heavenly  feast,  to  call  us  to  repent- 
ance, faith,  and  salvation,  are  the  successors  of  the 


ENCOURAGEMENT    TO    EXERTION.  273 

Apostles,  the  ministers  of  the  Church  CathoUc,  and 
all  other  means,  which  God  of  His  great  mercy,  uses 
to  bring  us  to  Himself.  The  excuses  sent  by  those 
who  are  tlius  invited,  are  still  the  same  which  the 
Jews  alleged,  to  wit,  the  business,  and  the  cares,  and 
the  pleasures,  and  the  alluring  sins  of  this  present 
evil  world. 

Day  by  day,  in  each  successive  age,  since  the 
parable  was  first  spoken,  God  has  been  sending  out 
His  servants  everywhere,  to  invite  new  guests  to  the 
Gospel  feast.  Multitudes  which  no  man  could  num- 
ber, have  been  regaled  by  it,  and  nourished  up  to 
everlasting  life  thereby ;  "  and  yet  there  is  room," — 
ample  room  for  more  at  the  same  board.  All  that 
hunger  may  come,  and  all  that  thirst,  may  come,  and 
both  shall  be  satisfied.  The  hungry  shall  be  filled 
with  good  things,  and  even  the  rich  shall  not  be  sent 
empty  away.  Still  the  invitation  goes  forth,  "  Ho 
every  one  that  thirsteth,  come  ye  to  the  waters  !'^  And, 
"  let  him  that  is  athirst  come.  '  And  whosoever  will, 
let  him  take  the  water  of  life  freely  I"  Still  are  the 
servants  of  the  INIost  High,  sent  into  all  the  world,  to 
call  mankind  to  avail  themselves  of  the  blessings 
placed  within  their  reach. — May  ive  at  least,  my 
brethren,  not  receive  the  grace  of  God  in  vain  !  May 
we  not  turn  our  backs  upon  the  feast  which  He  has 
so  graciously  spread  for  us  !  May  we  not  perish ,  as 
24 


274  THE    PROMISES    AN 

multitudes  before  us  have  done,  by  making  light  of 
that,  which,  when  once  lost,  is  irrecoverable ! 

"And  yet  there  is  room," — Heaven,  then,  for 
Christ's  sake,  and  through  His  merits,  is  accessible  to 
all  !  "  Him  that  cometh  unto  me,"  saith  He,  "  I  will 
in  no  wise  cast  out."  He  rejects  none  who  truly 
turn  to  Him  with  honesty  and  sincerity  of  purpose, 
but  has  compassion  on  their  manifold  infirmities, 
strengthens  them  in  their  weakness,,  and  intercedes 
wath  the  Father  for  them  all.  He  died  for  our  sins, 
rose  again  for  our  justification,  and  ascended  up  on 
high  to  be  our  Advocate.  By  virtue  of  His  merito- 
rious sacrifice,  He  not  only  made  atonement  for  our 
sins,  reconciling  us  to  His  Father,  that  He  may  love 
us,  as  He  loveth  Him;  but  He  has  likewise  prayed 
the  Father  to  keep  us  in  His  name ;  to  keep  us  from 
the  evil,  even  as  we  have  vowed  to  renounce  it;  to 
sanctify  and  make  us  holy,  even  as  by  our  privileges 
we  are  engaged  to  become  so;  that  thus  we  may 
become  perfect  in  one,  as  He  and  the  father  are :  and 
so  may  be  like  unto  God,  (who  have  already  been 
made  His  children)  partakers  of  the  Divine  nature 
•while  we  are  upon  earth,  and  afterwards  partakers  of 
the  marriage-supper  of  the  Lamb  in  heaven,  where 
yet,  "  there  is  room"  for  us  all. — "  In  my  Father's 
House,"  saith  He,  "  are  many  mansions  ;  if  it  were 
not  so,  I  would  have  told  you  ;  I  go  to  prepare  a  place 


ENCOURAGEMENT    TO    EXERTION.  275 

for  you.  And  if  I  go  and  prepare  a  place  for  3'0ii,  I 
will  come  again  and  receive  you  unto  Myself,  that 
where  I  am,  there  ye  may  be  also." 

0  glorious  and  gracious  promise  !  0  blessed  place  ! 
what  a  miserable  thing  it  is,  that  we  cannot  realize 
both  the  one  and  the  other  better  than  we  do  !  lh  it 
we  cannot  close  our  eyes  and  ears,  and  shut  the 
avenues  of  our  hearts,  and  become  so  wholly  spiritual 
as  to  form  some  notion  of  the  deep,  unutterable  bliss 
of  a  portion  in  God's  presence  !  How  poor,  and  cold, 
and  dead  are  our  purest  and  best  imaginations  respect- 
ing it !  And  all-imperfect  and  unsatisfying  as  they 
are,  who  can  but  long  to  be  there,  where  we  shall 
have  parted  from  this  miserable  and  naughty  world, 
and  all  our  defilements  through  the  lusts  of  the  flesh 
and  the  wiles  of  Satan,  shall  be  purged  and  done 
away ;  and  our  earthly  house  of  this  tabernacle 
shall  be  dissolved,  and  we  shall  be  clothed  upon,  and 
mortality  be  swallowed  up  of  life;  and  the  world, 
the  devil,  and  the  flesh  shall  find  no  place  there ;  we 
shall  be  no  longer  led  into  temptation,  shall  be 
delivered  from  every  evil,  and  the  fear  of  falling  shall 
exist  no  longer  ;  we  shall  be  free  from  all  manner  of 
sin,  and,  by  consequence,  from  all  manner  of  sufl'er- 
ing.  God  will  never  be  offended,  and  we  shall  never 
be  afflicted  any  more  ;  all  tears  shall  be  wiped  from 


276  THE    PROMISES    AN 

off  all  faces,  and  lliere  shall  be  no  more  death,  nor 
sorrow,  nor  crying. 

But  who  are  we,  my  brethren,  that  we  should 
venture  to  hope  for  such  things  ?  And  if  the  righteous 
scarcely  be  saved,  what  hope  is  there  for  us  ?  For 
what  are  we  compared  with  the  Saints  of  old? — 
(those,  to  whose  memory  this  day's  festival  is  conse- 
crated, and  for  the  light  of  whose  example  we  are 
now  blessing  God  !)  Can  we  hope  for  admission  into 
their  inheritance,  weighed  down  as  we  are,  by  the 
grievous  burden  of  our  sins  ? — Blessed  be  God,  there 
is  room  for  us,  thongh  the  passage  thereunto  be  too 
narrow  for  us,  together  with  our  sins,  to  enter  in  ! 
No :  our  sins  must  be  left  behind.  They  must  be 
laid  at  the  foot  of  the  Cross :  and  tJien  the  good 
Shepherd  will  own  us  as  His  sheep,  will  call  us  by 
our  names,  and  admit  us  into  His  fold. 

But  is  there  this  hope  for  all?  are  all  allowed  to 
run  in  the  race  ?  are  all  permitted  to  strive  for  admis- 
sion? For  heaven  must  needs  be  a  large  place,  that 
can  hold  such  a  multitude  of  inhabitants  as  are 
already  there.  Daniel  saw  thousands  upon  thousands 
of  happy  spirits  ministering  unto  God,  and  ten  thou- 
sand times  ten  thousand  standing  before  him.  Angels 
of  every  grade,  Cherubim  and  Seraphim,  Thrones, 
and  Dominions,  Principalities  and  Powers, — multi- 


ENCOURAGEMENT  TO  EXERTION.       277 

tudes  which  no  man  could  number,  the  ancient 
inhabitants  of  that  blessed  place, — pure,  and  sinless, 
and  undefiled,  are  ranged  around  the  footstool  of  the 
Eternal,  "  and  yet  there  is  room." 

The  glorious  company  of  the  Apostles,  the  goodly 
fellowship  of  the  Prophets,  the  noble  army  of  Mar- 
tyrs, will  doubtless  have  their  portion  there,  praising 
God  eternally,  casting  down  their  crowns  of  gold, 
amid  the  sea  of  glass  and  the  rainbow-throne :  but 
heaven  hath  many  mansions ;  there  yet  is  room. 

The  Patriarchs  and  Worthies  of  the  elder  covenant, 
"  who  died  in  faith,  not  having  received  the  promises, 
but  having  seen  them  afar  off,  and  who,  being  per- 
suaded of  them,  embraced  them,"  and  confessed  that 
they  were  strangers  and  pilgrims  upon  earth  ; — right- 
eous Abel,  and  Noah,  and  Abraham,  and  Isaac,  and 
Jacob,  and  Joseph, and  Moses;  Gideon, and  Barakjand 
Sampson,  and  Jephtha ;  David  also,  and  .Samuel  and 
the  Prophets, — the  cloud  of  witnesses,  in  short,  that 
compass  us  about, — these  will  ultimately  have  their 
resting-place,  in  that  "  better  country,"  "  the  heaven- 
ly," which  on  earth  they  so  diligently  sought ; — even 
in  the  City  which  hath  foundations,  whose  Builder 
and  Maker  is  God.  But  we  need  not  fear  exclusion, 
for  He  that  overcame  the  sharpness  of  death  hath 
opened  the  kingdom  of  heaven  to  all  believers. — 
"  And -yet  there  is  room." 
24* 


278  THE    PROMISES    AN 

There  too  shall  be  assembled  that  mighty  multi- 
tude of  whom  the  beloved  disciple  speaks  in  the 
visions  of  the  Apocalypse,  who,  clothed  in  white 
robes,  with  palms  in  their  hands,  give  honour  to  God 
and  the  Lamb.  And  ive  may  be  among  them,  for 
"yet  there  is  room." 

The  faithful  dead  of  every  age  and  clime,  those 
pious  followers  of  a  crucified  Redeemer,  "  of  whom 
the  world  was  not  worthy," — who,  in  their  measure, 
like  Him  have  borne  their  cross, — have  fought  the 
good  fight  of  Faith,  and  have  come,  perhaps,  out  of 
great  tribulation,  or  been  "destitute,  afflicted,  tor- 
mented," will  all  be  there,  for  God  hath  given  them 
the  victory  through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  His  they 
were  in  time,  members  of  His  One  Body,  sanctified 
by  His  One  Spirit,  and  His  they  will  be  in  eternity, 
washed  from  their  sins  with  His  blood,  and  clothed 
in  robes  pure  and  white  which  He  shall  give  them. 
In  number  they  may  be  numberless,  multitudinous 
as  the  stars  of  heaven,  or  the  sand  upon  the  sea's 
broad  shore,  but  God's  own  Word  assures  us  that  the 
golden  streets  of  the  heavenly  Jerusalem  are  a  tho- 
roughfare which  is  never  closed ;  that  its  gates  of 
pearl  "sliall  not  be  sliut  at  all  by  day ;  and  there 
shall  be  no  night  there;"  that  whole  "nations  of 
them  that  be  saved  shall  walk  in  the  ligiit  of  it ;"  but 
that  yet  "  there  is  room." 


ENCOURAGEMENT    TO    EXERTION.  279 

Room  for  the  poor  in  spirit,  for  thcir's  is  the  king- 
dom of  heaven. 

Room  for  those  that  mourn,  for  there  they  shall  be 
comforted. 

Room  for  those  that  hunger  and  thirst  after  right- 
eousness, for  there  they  shall  be  filled. 

Room  for  the  merciful,  for  there  they  shall  obtain 
mercy  ; — for  the  peace-makers,  for  the  meek,  for  the 
pure  in  lieart,  for  there  they  shall  see  God. 

Room  for  the  weary,  and  the  heavy  laden,  for 
there  they  shall  have  rest. 

Room  for  «//,  who  walking  in  the  steps  of  Christ, 
our  Saviour,  shall  crucify  the  flesh,  with  its  affections 
and  its  lusts. 

Seeing  then,  brethren,  that  such  promises  as  these 
have  been  made  to  us,  by  Him,  Whose  name  is 
Faithfulness  and  Truth,  with  what  motives  to  un- 
wearying exertions  are  we  supplied !  In  what 
unceasing  prayer,  and  constant  perseverance,  and 
unshrinking  self-denial,  should  we  pass  our  days, 
mortifying,  and  killing  all  vices  in  us ;  that  so  by  the 
aid  of  that  Holy  Spirit,  Who  dwelleth  in  us,  we  may 
be  made  meet  for  admission  into  that  blessed  place  ! 
How  diligently,  and  heartily  should  we  implore  Him, 
to  prosper  the  growth  of  that  heavenly  seed,  which 
He  sowed  in  our  hearts  at  Holy  Baptism, — and  to 
give   us  precious  increase^   that   so  we   may  have 


280  THE    PROMISES    AN 

abundant  "fruit  unto  holiness,  and  the  end  everlast- 
ing life." 

And  while  we  thus  seek  strength  and  assistance 
from  on  high,  as  knowing  that  without  that  aid,  our 
own  efforts  will  end  in  nothing  but  shame  and  disap- 
pointment, how  zealous,  and  watchful,  and  pains- 
taking, and  devoted,  should  we  be,  "  lest  a  promise 
being  left  us  of  entering  into  rest,"  an}^  of  us  should 
in  the  end,  come  short  of  it. 

To  those  among  my  hearers,  (and  I  confidently 
hope  there  are  many  such,)  who  are  honestly  desiring 
and  striving  to  lead  the  life  of  Saints, — but  who, 
nevertheless,  are  subject,  (as  all  must  be,  on  this  side 
the  grave,)  to  the  danger  of  falling, — to  such  persons, 
can  there  be  a  stronger  incitement  to  cheerful  and 
untiring  exertion,  or  a  higher  source  of  support  and 
consolation,  amid  the  fatigues  of  their  pilgrimage,  and 
the  perils  of  their  warfare,  than  the  remembrance  that 
there  is  •'  an  inheritance  incorruptible,  undefiled,  and 
that  fadeth  not  away,"  reserved  in  heaven  for  them, 
in  those  mansions,  where  they  shall  see  their 
Redeemer,  face  to  face,  and  know  even  as  they  are 
known  ? 

Again.  Are  there  any  now  present,  who  are  lead- 
ing careless  lives,  with  their  lamps  untrimmed,  and 
their  loins  ungirded  ; — living,  in  short,  "  without  God 
in  the  world:"  for  this  world,  and  not  for  God;  con- 


ENCOURAGEMENT    TO    EXERTION.  281 

lent  to  dwell  in  it  for  ever,  and  with  no  aspirations 
after  things  unseen  ;  slothful,  self-indulgent,  without 
inward  principle,  and  so  letting  things  take  their 
chance,  and  influenced  only  by  accident,  or  fashion  ? 
Then  let  me  beseech  them  to  remember,  that  although 
as  yet,  ^' there  is  room,"  they  have  need  to  take 
heed  betimes,  while  the  day -of  salvation  lasteth,  for 
the  night  cometh,  when  no  man  can  work.  "  Then 
shall  it  be  too  late  to  knock,  when  the  door  shall  be 
shut,  and  too  late  to  cry  for  mercy,  when  it  is  the 
time  of  justice." 

Lastly :  are  there  any,  who  know  that  they  have 
wilfully  grieved  the  Holy  Spirit,  by  a  deliberate 
breaking  of  their  Baptismal  vows,  and  a  deliberate 
surrender  of  themselves  to  Satan,  the  world,  and  the 
flesh;  and  who  now  feel  the  iniquities  of  their  past 
lives  with  an  overwhelming  and  almost  despairing 
sense  of  their  deep  guiltiness, — some  weary  and 
heavy  laden  soul,  perhaps,  that  scarce  dares  to  hope 
for  pardon,  nor  even  to  "  lift  up  his  eyes  unto  the 
hills,  from  whence  cometh  his  help," — who  is  at 
length  conscious  of  his  responsibilities  and  his  omis- 
sions, and  who  would  now  turn  and  seek  for  refuge, 
where  alone  is  the  hope  of  pardon  ; — then,  to  such 
an  one  am  I  bound  to  offer  the  consoling  reflection, 
that  to  him,  and  to  such  as  he,  is  the  word  of  this 
salvation  sent.     The  poor,  the  maimed,  the  halt,  and 


282  THE    PROMISES   AN 

the  blind  of  tlie  parable, — they  who  had  been  worst- 
ed by  the  adversary,  were  compelled,  with  gentle 
importunity,  to  fill  the  vacant  places  at  the  rich  man's 
board.  And  even  thus  it  is  that  Christ  our  Lord,  the 
Seeker  of  the  wanderers  and  the  Saviour  of  the  lost, 
invites  the  returning  sinners.  Your  present  sorrow 
for  the  past  is  a  proof  that  He  has  not  cast  you  off 
forever;  and  though,  in  consequence  of  your  grievous 
fall,  it  behoves  you  to  go  mourning  all  your  life  long, 
still  there  is  no  cause  for  faithless  despondency.  His 
word  is  sure ;  His  promises  fail  not.  His  blood 
cleanseth  from  all  sin  which  is  repented  of  and  for- 
saken. It  will  cleanse  your  sins  as  well  as  others'. 
Follow,  obey,  and  hope  in  Him,  and  He  will  not 
exclude  you  from  that  heaven,  the  gates  of  which, 
when  He  had  overcome  the  sharpness  of  death.  He 
opened  to  all  believers.  Press  on  hopefully,  for  as 
yet  there  is  room.  Press  on  in  faith,  nothing  waver- 
ing; in  continual  penitence  and  humiliation,  in  prayer 
and  watchfulness,  in  charity  and  every  other  good 
work. 

Let  the  errors  of  your  life  past  form  the  subject  of 
a  daily  sorrow,  working  in  you  a  repentance  not  to 
be  repented  of.  And  then,  though,  through  the  guilt 
of  former  transgressions,  this  world  can  never  be 
otherwise  than  a  vale  of  tears  to  you,  though  now 
you  must  needs  go  weeping  along  your  way,  bearing 


ENCOTTRAGEMENT    TO    EXERTION.  2S3 

forll)  precious  seed,  you  doubtless  shall  come  again 
with  joy  bringing  your  sheaves  with  you.  You  shall 
stand  in  your  lot  at  the  end  of  days,  whh  others,  who 
like  yourselves,  have  come  out  of  great  tribulation, 
redeemed  by  Him,  Who  is  the  Church's  Deliverer 
from  death  and  the  grave  ;  Who  poured  forth  His 
blood  like  water  to  save  you  from  the  one,  and  has 
made  the  other  the  portal  to  the  inheritance  of  the 
Saints  in  light. 


SERMON  XVIir. 


OP     DYING     DAILY. 


1  Corinthians  xv.  31. 


I  die  dail}'. 

The  doctrine  set  forth  in  these  few  words  seems 
to  be  this,  that  we  must  die  while  we  hve,  in  order 
that  we  may  Vive  when  we  die  ;  that  our  whole  life 
must  be  a  kind  of  rehearsal  of  that  which  is  insepar 
ably  connected  with  the  dissolution  of  the  body,  a 
surrender  of  earthly  interests,  hopes,  affections, 
passions,  pursuits,  and  an  entire  indifference  to  those 
things  which  alone,  in  the  opinion  of  the  world, 
make  life  worth  having ;  that  our  course  of  existence 
must  be  a  type  or  shadowing  forth  of  the  agony  of  a 
dying  bed  in  so  far  as  that  is,  (or  ought  to  be) 
accompanied  by  a  patient  endurance  of  suffering,  a 
cheerful  resignation  to  God,  a  trustful  submission  to 
His  will,  a  steadfast  faith  in  His  mercies  through 
Christ,  a  thankful  receiving  of  His  fatherly  chastise- 
25 


28G  OP    DYING    DAILY. 

ment,  an  unmurmuring  spirit  under  the  prospect  of 
separation  and  bereavement,  an  earnest  longing  after 
the  invisible  world,  an  eager  desire  to  see  Him  that 
is  invisible,  a  looking  for  the  resurrection  of  the  dead? 
and  the  life  of  the  world  to  come;  that  we  must 
habitually  consider  ourselves  as  mere  strangers  in 
this  world,  who  are  on  pilgrimage  to  another;  and 
that  so  far  from  being  dissatisfied  with  our  condition, 
or  allowing  ourselves  to  be  ungrateful,  and  to  think 
it  gloomy,  and  a  hardship  that  our  life  is,  in  some 
sort,  the  protracted  struggle,  of  a  living  death,  we 
must  "  count  it  all  joy  when  we  fall  into  temptation," 
and  we  must  "glory  in  tribulations;"  as  knowing 
that  "tribulation  worketh  patience,  and  patience, 
experience  ;  and  experience,  hope  :"  yea,  we  must 
be  glad  to  lose  all  things  and  suffer  all  things,  if  only 
we  may  "  win  Christ  and  be  found  in  Him,"  if  we 
may  but  "  know  Him,  and  the  power  of  His  resur- 
rection, and  the  fellowship  of  His  sufferings,  being 
made  conformable  to  His  death  ;  if  by  any  means" 
we  "  might  attain  unto  the  resurrection  of  the  dead." 
It  cannot  fail  to  be  in  the  remembrance  of  all,  that 
the  text  forms  part  of  St.  Paul's  exposition  of  the 
doctrine  of  the  resurrection, — that  most  awful  yet 
consolatory  portion  of  Scripture  which  the  Church 
has  selected  as  the  lesson  for  the  burial-service,  and 
on  the  strength  of  which  she  bids  our  mourners 


OF    DYING    DAILY.  287 

commit  their  departed  friends  to  the  ground  "in  sure 
and  certain  hope  of  the  resurrection  to  eternal  Hfe, 
through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ ;  who  shall  change 
our  vile  body  that  it  may  be  like  unto  His  glorious 
body,  according  to  the  mighty  working,  whereby  He 
is  able  to  subdue  all  things  to  Himself." 

Into  the  general  scope  and  bearing  of  the  Apostles 
arguments  in  favour  of  the  doctrine  he  was  inculcat- 
ing, it  is  unnecessary  that  I  should  enter  at  present, 
as  its  connection  with  the  subject  upon  which  I 
intend  to  address  you  is  not  immediate.  It  may  be 
sufficient,  therefore,  to  mention  that  the  text  forms 
part  of  one  of  those  reasons  which  he  alleges  in  con- 
firmation of  the  truth  of  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrec- 
tion, and  his  own  belief  in  it.  If,  he  argues,  we 
Christians  did  not  unhesitatingly  believe  that  we 
should  rise  again  after  death,  why  should  we  lead 
such  lives  as  we  do  ?  why  submit  ourselves  to 
everything  which  can  make  life  most  miserable  ? 
Why  continue  we  thus  to  chase  a  mere  delusion  ? 
why  thus  to  submit  to  persecution  and  tribulation 
hourly,  yet  without  an  object  ?  I  declare  by  those 
hopes  which  I  have  in  Him  Whose  servant  I  profess 
myself,  my  daily  afflictions  which  I  suffer  for  the 
sake  of  the  Gospel  are  equal  in  their  agony  to  death 
itself.  "  I  protest  by  your  rejoicing  which  I  have 
in  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord,  I  die  daily." 


2£8  or    DYING    DAILY. 

So  the  Apostle  testifies  of  himself,  and  so  in  his 
s^econd  epistle  he  speaks  of  his  condition  more  fully. 
"  We  are  troubled  on  every  side,  yet  not  distressed  ; 
we  are  perplexed,  but  not  in  despair  ;  persecuted,  but 
not  forsaken  ;  cast  down,  but  not  destroyed;  always 
bearing  about  in  the  body  the  dying  of  the  Lord 
Jesus,  that  the  life  also  of  Jesus  might  be  made  mani- 
fest in  our  body." 

Here  then,  brethren,  is  the  rule  for  us  to  follow. 
Our  mortal  life  must  be  a  daily  death,  in  conformity 
with  the  sufferings  of  Christ.  For  His  sake  we  shall 
be  content  to  "be  killed  all  the  daylong."  With 
Him,  and  for  Him,  we  shall  gladly  suffer,  that  so  in 
the  end  we  may  reign  with  Him. 

Perhaps,  nay,  I  should  say,  most  probably,  to 
some  who  hear  me,  this  description  of  the  Christian's 
life  on  earth  may  seem  unpalatable,  forbiding,  repul- 
sive. And  yet,  I  think,  if  you  will  search  the  Scrip- 
tures fairly  and  candidly  you  will  find  that  I  have 
spoken  truth.  We  shall  there  see  ourselves  spoken 
of  as  being  in  possession  of  many  privileges,  bles- 
sings, and  mercies:  these  we  are  allowed,  nay, 
enjoined  to  use  with  thankfulness.  And  more  than 
this,  we  are  encouraged  to  "  rejoice  evermore,"  and 
to  "be  of  good  comfort;"  and  yet,  on  the  whole,  the 
Christian  life  is  represented  to  us  as  one  of  sternness 
and  severity,  such  as  may  be  best  described  by  a 
"dying  daily," 


OF    DYING    DAILY.  289 

Is  this  an  offence  to  you  ?  is  it  a  stumbling  block  in 
your  path  and  a  discouragement  to  you  ?  do  you  feel 
deterred,  and  inclined  to  make  no  further  advance  in 
a  religion  which  seems  to  exact  such  hard  service 
from  you  ? — Remember  this,  then,  that  in  the  strong 
language  of  Scripture  you  are  dead  already.  Since 
you  came  into  the  world  you  have  never  been  other- 
wise than  dead.  When  born  into  the  world  you 
were  dead  in  trespasses  and  sins.  God,  however, 
took  pity  on  you  and  changed  your  condition ;  but 
you  are  still  dead,  though  in  a  different  sense.  "  Ye 
are  dead,  and  your  life  is  hid  with  Christ  in  God." — 
"  We  be  dead  with  Christ.'^ — '^Know  ye  not,"  asks 
St.  Paul  in  his  epistle  to  the  Rom.ans, "  that  so  many 
of  us  as  were  baptized  into  Jesus  Christ  were  bap- 
tized into  His  death  ?  Therefore  we  are  buried  with 
Him  by  baptism  into  death  :  that  like  as  Christ  was 
raised  up  from  the  dead  by  the  glory  of  the  Father, 
even  so  we  also  should  walk  in  newness  of  life." 

And  this  doctrine  our  Church  sets  before  us  in  her 
collect  for  Easter  Eve,  wherein  she  prays  God,  that 
as  we  are  "baptized  into  the  death  of  His  blessed 
Son,  so  by  continual  mortifying  our  corrupt  affections, 
we  may  be  buried  with  Him."  And  still  more 
emphatically,  in  the  Office  of  Public  Baptism,  she 
prays  for  the  child  to  be  baptized,  "  that  the  old  Adam 
may  be  buried,"  and  that  "all  carnal  affections  may 
25* 


290  OF    DYING    DAILY. 

die  in  him."  And  subsequently,  when  he  has  been 
baptized,  she  speaks  of  him  as  being  "  dead  unto  sin," 
and  as  being  ^'  buried  with  Christ  in  His  death,"  and 
prays,  that  as  "  he  is  made  partaker  of  the  death"  of 
the  Son  of  God,  he  "  may  also  be  a  partaker  of  His 
resurrection." 

Thus,  both  Scripture  and  the  Church,  teach  us  to 
look  upon  ourselves  as  dead  to  this  world,  from  the 
moment  we  are  brought  into  covenant  with  God  :  but 
since,  to  each  of  us  is  alloted  a  longer,  or  shorter 
period  of  sojourning  therein ;  and  since,  throughout 
the  course  of  our  sojourn,  we  are  brought  into  con- 
tact with  the  world  continually,  our  condition  may 
be  fairly  spoken  of  as  a  dying  daily.  Our  business 
is  to  root  out,  destroy,  and  kill  those  vices,  which,  as 
evil  weeds,  are  springing  up  in  us  unceasingly.  We 
have,  as  St.  Paul  says,  to  "  crucify  the  old  man  ;"  to 
kill,  that  is,  those  corrupt  tempers,  and  appetites, 
which  are  natural  to  us,  and  which  remain  in  us 
though  we  have  been  made  regenerate,  but  which 
are  at  variance  with  the  love  of  God.  And  this  can 
only  be  done,  by  a  process  of  torment,  slow,  and 
lingering,  like  that  experienced  by  the  victim  on  the 
Cross.  We  cannot  say  to  a  lust,  or  carnal  appetite. 
Begone,  and  return  no  more.  We  cannot  cast  out 
the  evil  spirit  at  once ;  all  we  can  do  is  to  struggle 
with  it,  and  resist  it;  to  keep  every   entrance  by 


OF    DYING    DAILY.  291 

wliicli  it  could  gain  admission,  fast  and  closed.  We 
cannot  destroy  the  noxious  plant  at  once,  bnt  we 
may  tear  off  each  bud  as  it  shoots  forth,  and  scrape 
away  the  nourishing  soil  from  the  roots,  and  prevent 
the  genial  warmth  of  the  sun  from  shining  on  it,  and 
the  rain  from  refreshing  it.  And  thus  acting,  we 
shall  in  time  get  rid  of  it  in  great  measure.  It  will 
become  weak,  and  dwindle  away:  and  so  long  as  we 
exercise  a  watchful  care  respecting  it,  it  will  be 
unable  to  revive  to  our  hurt.  Yet,  as  all  this  is  an 
anxious  and  a  toilsome  process,  those  who  are 
engaged  in  it,  may  be  described  as  dying  daily. 
Their  life  is  a  course  of  perpetual  mortification ;  of 
killing  and  slaying  those  things  which  else  would 
have  strength  to  kill  and  slay  them.  "  Ye  are  dead," 
writes  St.  Paul  to  the  Colossians,  "  and  your  life  is 
hid  wuh  Christ  in  God,  .  .  .  Mortify  therefore  your 
members  which  are  upon  earth  ;  fornication,  unclean- 
ness,  inordinate  affection,  evil  concupiscence,  and 
covetousness,  which  is  idolatry." 

It  appears,  then,  on  the  whole,  that  our  condition 
in  the  world  is  this.  We  entered  it,  so  to  speak,  in  a 
state  of  living  death;  and  while  we  continue  in  it 
we  must  die  daily,  in  order  that  when  our  mortal 
bodies  suffer  death,  we  may,  for  Christ's  merits,  have 
a  portion  assigned  us  in  Ilis  kingdom  of  life  and 
glory. 


292  OF    DYING    DAILY. 

Now,  it  is  not  to  be  denied,  that  such  a  view  of 
Hfe,  must  needs  be  repugnant  to  those  who  have  not 
learned  to  consider  the  working  out  their  own  salva- 
tion as  the  one  thing  needful.  Youth  and  health 
would  be  glad  to  look  on  life  as  a  calm,  unruffled 
scene  of  sunshine,  which  no  clouds  should  overcast. 
The  world,  the  devil,  and  the  'flesh,  have  but  one 
advice  to  those,  who  are  inclined  to  yield  to  their  in- 
fluence. "  Take  thine  ease,  eat,  drink,  and  be  merry." 
"  Rejoice,  O  young  man,  in  thy  youth  ;  and  let  thy 
heart  cheer  thee  in  the  day  of  thy  youth  ;  and  walk 
in  the  ways  of  thine  heart,  and  in  the  sight  of  thine 
eyes." — But  never  would  these  ensnarers  remind 
him  that  for  all  these  things  God  will  bring  him  into 
judgment. 

I  say  it  is  not  to  be  denied  that  religion,  viewed  as 
involving  a  continual  struggle  with  our  natural 
appetites,  has  something  very  austere  and  unattrac- 
tive in  it ;  and  it  seems  hard  at  first  to  understand 
how  her  ways  can  be  ways  of  pleasantness,  and  that 
all  her  paths  are  peace. 

But  the  question  for  persons  to  decide  is,  not 
whether  they  like  the  prospect  of  a  lengthened  mor- 
tification and  self-denial,  of  a  perpetual  battle  with 
their  appetites,  and  disease,  and  pain,  and  death; 
but  whether,  being  as  they  are,  partakers  of  Adam's 
transgression,  and  liable  to  all  the  penalties  incurred 


OF    DYING    DAILY.  293 

thereby,  it  is  not  far,  far  preferable  to  submit  to  any 
amount  of  suffering,  during  their  short  pilgrimage 
here  below  ;  yea,  if  need  there  be,  (which,  blessed  be 
'God,  there  is  not)  to  make  this  earth  a  hell  to  them- 
selves, rather  than  after  spending  a  few  short  years 
in  selfish  gratification,  to  pass  to  death  eternal, — a 
hopeless,  never-ending  condition  of  misery  and  tor- 
ment? This  is  the  fair  way  of  putting  the  enquiry  to 
our  minds,  and,  so  put,  there  can,  I  presume,  be  but 
one  answer  to  it.  It  is  hard  when  the  world  invites, 
to  renounce  it ;  when  Satan  allures,  to  resist  him  ; 
when  the  flesh  tempts,  to  deny  it ;  but  if  these,  when 
yielded  to,  will  keep  me  for  ever  from  God,  then  I 
will  fight  against  them  all  the  day  long,  and,  the 
Lord  being  my  helper,  they  shall  gain  no  mastery 
over  me.  It  is  hard  to  mortify  the  members  that  are 
on  the  earth  ;  to  say  to  the  eyes.  See  not ;  to  the  ears, 
Hear  not ;  to  the  tongue.  Taste  not ;  to  the  hands, 
Touch  not,  handle  not.  But  if  these  be  the  things 
which  place  my  soul  in  jeopardy,  I  will  rule  them 
and  control  them  with  a  rod  of  iron.  It  is  hard  to 
submit  one's  own  will  to  God's,  to  resign  oneself  to 
pain,  and  sorrow,  and  bereavement,  and  worldly  loss ; 
but  it  were  harder  still  to  be  partakers  of  a  pain  and 
sorrow  that  can  never  end ;  hardest  of  all  to  be  shut 
out  from  His  presence  for  ever.  It  is  hard  to  look  on 
death,  to  watch  his  coming  year  by  year,  to  listen  for 


294  OF    DYING    DAILY. 

his  Stealthy  step,  to  feel  the  first  touch  of  his  cold 
finger,  to  meditate  on  the  shroud,  the  grave,  the 
worm ;  but  if  these  be  the  things  that  shut  out  the 
prospect  of  the  invisible  world,  and  that  separate  me 
from  Christ,  then  welcome  death,  and  shroud,  and 
worm.  I  desire  to  depart  and  be  with  Christ,  which 
is  far  better. 

This,  brethren,  is  the  way  to  teach  ourselves  to  die 
daily,  and  to  look  upon  religion  not  as  a  cheerless, 
repulsive  thing,  but  as  that,  which  in  spite  of  its 
awfulness,  its  stern  demands,  its  exclusive  claims,  is 
worth  all,  and  a  thousand-fold  more  than  all  that  we 
can  surrender  in  its  behalf. 

And  now  let  us  apply  what  has  been  said  to  our- 
selves, and  see  m  what  respects  we  can  make  our 
lives  a  counterpart  of  St.  Paul's,  by  dying  daily.  His 
daily  death  partly  consisted  in  personal  perils,  in  per- 
secutions, in  bonds  and  imprisonments,  and  in  the 
anxieties  which  arose  from  his  care  of  all  the 
Churches.  So  far  our  lot  is  dissimilar  from  his  ;  but 
in  other  respects  his  trials  were  the  common  trials  of 
Christians,  and  therefore  we  may  learn  from  his 
general  conduct,  his  unshrinking  self-sacrifice,  and  his 
entire  devotion  to  his  Master's  service,  how  therein 
we  may  die  daily. 

Now  the  first  step  towards  dying  daily,  is  to  estab- 
lish within  ourselves,  practically,  the  feeling  that  we 


OF    DYING    DAILY.  295 

may  die  any  day.  And  by  this  I  mean,  not  the  mere 
admission  that  Ufe  is  uncertain,  in  which  each  indi- 
vidual makes  a  tacit  reservation  in  his  own  favour  ; 
but  such  a  strong  and  enduring  conviction  as  brings 
to  our  mind  with  the  dawn  of  every  day,  the  reflec- 
tion that  that  day  may  be  our  last,  and  realizes  to  us 
in  something  more  than  words,  that  on  each  succes- 
sive night  we  go  to  our  bed  as  to  our  grave,  and 
know  not  but  we  may  awake  in  another  world; 
which  make&us  feel  the  necessity  of  so  Uving,  tliat, 
to  use  Bishop  Ken's  well-known  words,  we  may 
dread  the  grave  as  little  as  our  bed  ;  and  which  sets 
it  down  as  the  rule  of  our  existence,  that  the  con- 
templation of  death  is  a  thing  never  to  be  avoided 
and  shunned,  but  to  be  kept  as  much  in  sight  as  the 
provision  of  our  daily  bread. 

Another  step  towards  dying  daily  is  to  learn  to 
discipline  our  earthly  affections,  by  dwelling  much 
upon  the  thought  that,  though  relations  and  friends 
are  blessings  to  be  enjoyed,  and  for  which  it  behoves 
us  to  be  very  thankful,  still  they  are  only  loans  lent 
us  by  the  Lord.  He  gives  and  He  takes  away  ;  He 
either  takes  them  away  from  us,  or  us  from  them. 

And  the  same  rule  which  applies  to  our  earthly 
friends  must  be  brought  to  bear  on  our  worldly  pos- 
sessions. Houses  and  lands,  name  and  fame,  all  that 
the  world  sets  most  store  by,  v/e  must  learn  to  hold 


296  OP    DYING    DAILY. 

cheap,  either  by  making  no  exertions  to  obtain  them, 
or  by  making  ready  surrender  of  them  in  any  respects 
in  which  they  may  seem  to  interfere  with  our  Chris- 
tian progress.  We  must  discipUne  ourselves  to  part 
with  them  by  voluntary  privations,  must  make  them 
as  much  as  possible  a  matter  of  indifference  to  us, 
thankful  if  we  have  them,  but  ready  to  part  with 
them,  and  unrepining  when  they  are  gone.  For 
what  saith  the  Apostle  ?  "  Brethren,  the  time  is 
short :  it  remaineth,  that  both  they  that  have  wives 
be  as  though  they  had  none ;  and  they  that  weep, 
as  though  they  wept  not;  and  they  that  rejoice,  as 
though  they  rejoiced  not ;  and  they  that  buy,  as 
though  they  possessed  not ;  and  they  that  use  this 
world  as  not  abusing  it." 

So  much  with  respect  to  our  dying  daily  to  the 
objects  with  which  we  are  surrounded.  But  there 
are  other  matters  with  regard  to  which  our  daily  life 
must  be  a  living  death. 

If  we  had  never  broken  our  Baptismal  vows  it 
might  have  sufficed  for  us  to  spend  our  allotted  time 
in  watchfulness,  and  prayer,  and  praise ;  but  as  we 
are,  we  have  most  of  us,  it  is  to  be  feared,  a  heavy 
load  of  guilt  attaching  to  us,  and  therefore  each  day 
must  bring  with  it  a  course  of  penhence  and  humilia- 
tion, and  an  acknowledgment  that  for  our  transgres- 
sions we  have  deserved  death.     We  have  to  judge 


OF    DYING    DAILY.  297 

ourselves,  in  the  hope  that  thereby  we  may  escape 
tlie  judgment  of  the  Lord.  We  have  to  pray  to  God 
to  mortify  and  kill  all  vices  in  us.  We  have  to  put 
our  remaining  corruptions  to  death  ;  in  whatever 
respect  we  find  ourselves  to  be  carnal,  therein  we 
have  to  die  daily. 

Our  whole  course  of  life  must  be  a  warfare  and 
struggle  with  ourselves.  The  spirit  must  be  taught 
to  master  the  flesh :  the  body  must  be  kept  in  sub- 
jection to  the  soul.  Our  whole  man  must  be  disci- 
plined till  it  knows  no  will  but  the  will  of  God.  And 
this,  under  grace,  can  only  be  done  by  denying  our 
appetites  continually,  even  in  things  lawful ;  by 
habitually  considering  others  rather  than  ourselves  ; 
by  taking  up  our  cross  daily,  and  bearing  it  cheer- 
fully, be  it  what  it  may  ;  by  striving  to  follow  the 
example  of  our  Saviour  Christ,  and  seeking  Him  in 
the  ways  of  patience,  endurance,  and  mortification 
spiritual  and  corporeal. 

I  do  not  tell  you  that  this  is  easy.  I  do  not  say 
that  it  is  pleasant  to  flesh  and  blood.  But  I  dare 
assure  you  that  its  reward  is  with  it,  and  that  the 
peace  springing  therefrom  is  of  a  kind  which  the 
world  can  neither  give  nor  take  away.  I  dare  assure 
you  that  not  all  the  indulgence  that  heart  can  con- 
ceive, that  not  all  the  kingdoms  of  the  world,  and  all 
the  glory  of  them,  would  compensate  for  one  single 
26 


298  OF    DYING    DAILY. 

minute  spent  in  the  agonies  of  hell;  and  that  could 
we  daily  die  a  thousand  deaths  as  agonizing  as  those 
which  Christ  our  Saviour  underwent  for  us,  such  an 
amount  of  suffering  could  not  be  worthy  to  be 
weighed  against  the  risk  of  losing  the  lowest  and 
humblest  place  in  the  court  of  heaven. 

Learn  then,  brethren,  to  die  daily,  that  so  you 
may  live  eternally.  Die  to  the  world,  die  to  sin,  die 
to  self.  And  this  not  occasionally,  and  by  fits  and 
starts,  but  ever.  Let  your  daily  life  be  a  living 
death.  You  will  thus  gradually  learn  to  look  on 
death  not  as  a  foe  but  as  a  friend.  It  will  be  Christ 
to  you  to  live,  and  gain  to  die.  Your  days  will  be 
spent  in  serving  Christ,  and  looking  for  that  death 
which  will  unite  you  to  Him ;  as  years  roll  on  you 
will  be  more  and  more  dead  to  the  things  of  this 
world  ;  your  thoughts  and  hopes  will  be  living  in 
heaven  :  there  needs  but  a  little  change,  a  dropping 
of  the  scales  from  your  eyes,  a  casting  off  the  gar- 
ments of  mortality,  and  your  thoughts  and  hopes  will 
be  realized.  The  time  is  short :  the  trial  is  soon  over  : 
the  long-looked  for  summons  comes;  and  then,  in  a 
moment,  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye  the  snare  is 
broken,  and  you  are  delivered:  the  wings  of  the 
dove  are  given  you;  and  so  you  fiee  away  and  are 
at  rest. 


SERMON  XIX. 


THE    END    OF    ALL    THINGS. 


1  Peter  iv.  7. 

The  end  of  all  things  is  at  hand:  be  ye  therefore  sober,  and 
watch  unto  prayer. 

The  revelation  here  made  by  the  Holy  Spirit  is 
repeated  in  other  piirts  of  the  New  Testament.  It 
was  not  indistinctly  intimated  by  our  Lord  Himself, 
while  on  earth ;  and  after  He  had  ascended  to  the 
Father,  His  Apostles  gave  it  a  prominent  place  in 
their  teaching.  They  spoke  of  themselves  as  living 
"in  the  last  days,"  ^' in  the  last  times,"  and  grounded 
their  exliortations  to  increasing  vigilance,  upon  the 
argument  that  "  the  night  was  far  spent,"  and  that 
"the  day  was  at  hand,"  that  "the  Lord  was  at 
hand,"  that  "the  day"  was  "approaching,"  and  that 
"the  coming  of  the  Lord  was  drawing  nigh." 

Now  perhaps  we  shall  never  ascertain  the  exact 
ideas  in  the  Apostles'  minds  when  they  used  such 


300  THE    END    OP 

language.  At  first  sight  it  would  appear  like  an 
expression  of  their  expectation  that  the  final  consum- 
mation of  all  things  would  take  place  in  their  own 
day.  And  it  is  probable  that  as  the  Man  Christ 
Jesus  declared  in  the  fullest  and  most  awful  of  all 
His  prophecies,  that  "  of  that  day  and  that  hour, 
knoweth  no  man,  no,  not  the  angels  which  are  in 
heaven,  neither  the  Son,  but  the  Father,"  so  the 
Apostles,  though  God  had  not  given  the  Spirit  by 
measure  unto  them,  were  left  in  the  same  ignorance, 
in  this  respect,  as  the  angels  themselves.  Possibly, 
for  our  sakes  they  were  even  allowed  to  continue  in 
somewhat  of  suspense,  whether  the  generation  in 
which  they  lived  would,  or  would  not,  witness  a 
catastrophe  infinitely  more  terrible  than  that  of  the 
overthrow  of  Jerusalem,  and  the  casting  away  of  the 
chosen  race. 

But  whatever  may  have  been  the  actual  state  of 
the  Apostles'  minds  in  this  respect,  two  things  are 
evident,  first,  that  they  spoke  as  though  the  end  of 
all  things  were  immediately  at  hand  ;  and  secondly, 
that  since  that  time,  what  to  tis  seems  a  long  period, 
has  passed  away. 

Now  if  the  Christian  world,  instead  of  being  what 
it  is,  were  leading  a  life  of  faith,  it  is  evident  that  the 
result  of  this  would  be,  not  that  men  would  have 
grown  careless  and  indifferent  on  the  subject,  but 


ALL    THINGS.  301 

that  they  would  be  continually  looking  out  for  the 
coming  of  the  Son  of  Man. 

But  men  have  never  been  willing  to  look  out  for 
the  signs  of  the  Lord's  coming,  nor  to  listen  for  the 
sound  of  His  chariot  wheels.  It  was  so  when  Christ 
our  Saviour  would  have  gathered  the  children  of 
Jerusalem  together  ; — but  they  "  would  not,"  and  so 
the  end  was,  that  "  their  house  was  left  unto  them 
desolate."  And  St.  Peter  in  his  second  epistle  fore- 
warns us  that  the  same  shall  be  the  case  in  these  last 
days.  "  There  shall  come,"  saith  he,  "  in  the  last 
days,  scoffers,  walking  al^ter  their  own  lusts,  and 
saying.  Where  is  the  promise  of  His  coming  ?  for 
since  the  fathers  fell  asleep,  all  things  continue  as 
they  were  from  the  l)eginning  of  the  creation." 

And  that  which  was  the  sin  of  an  earlier  age  of 
the  Church  is  certainly  one  of  the  marked  offences  of 
our  own.  They  of  whom  I  have  spoken,  did  not 
comprehend  tlje  nature  of  that  particular  coming 
which  had  been  predicted,  and  so  they  would  not 
watch  at  all,  or  if  they  did  so  at  first,  they  soon  grew 
careless.  The  same  is  the  case  with  ourselves.  I 
am  not  speaking  of  the  openly  wicked,  who  cast  off, 
so  far  as  they  can,  all  thought  of  God,  but  of  those 
who  are  considered  decent  and  respectable  people. 
And  of  them,  I  say,  that  generally  speaking,  their 
tone  is  not  that  of  men  who  are  looking  for  Christ's 
26^ 


302  THE    END    OP 

coming.  Yet  we  ought  to  be  always  expecting  His 
coming,  visibly  or  invisibly,  either  to  judgment,  or 
in  some  of  those  ways  in  which  already  the  past  has 
been  made  a  type  of  the  future.  In  every  judgment 
which  has  come  upon  the  Church,  in  every  persecu- 
tion which  has  befallen  it,  Christ  may  be  said  in  some 
sense,  to  have  visited  us  judicially.  And  in  propor- 
tion as  men  have  looked  out  for  Him,  and  recognized 
Him  in  these  visitations,  may  they  be  said  to  have 
been  "  watching  for  their  Lord." 

But  now  what  I  would  have  you  to  consider  is  this. 
Would  not  the  habitual  looking  out  for  Christ,  in 
the  various  dispensations  of  His  Providence,  be  con- 
sidered, by  the  ordinary  class  of  what  are  called 
respectable  people  to  be  the  mark  of  a  weak  and 
superstitious  mind  ?  Would  not  those  who  are 
watching  for  the  signs  of  His  Advent,  if  at  least 
they  confessed  that  they  did  so,  be  pointed  out  as 
enthusiasts  ? 

The  question  answers  itself.  iVny  serious-minded 
person  among  us  who  is  in  the  habit  of  viewing  the 
workings  of  Providence,  in  the  hope  that  he  may  not 
be  found  among  the  slumberers  when  the  Lord  shall 
come,  must  know  full  well  by  past  experience,  that 
the  deeper  and  more  absorbing  his  thoughts  on  such 
matters  are,  the  more  he  is  forced  to  keep  them  to 
himself.     His  neighbours  will  not  enter  into  his  feel- 


ALL    THINGS.  S03 

ings ;  they  can  no  more  enter  into  them  tlian  the 
blind  man  can  appreciate  a  fair  landscape,  or  a  deaf 
man  the  sweet  sounds  of  music.  Such  an  one,  there- 
fore, for  the  most  part,  must  be  content  to  walk  the 
world  alone  ;  there  is  a  wall  upon  his  right  hand  and 
upon  his  left.  On  the  subject  which  most  fills  his 
mind,  he  must  be  silent,  lest  others  should  treat  it 
irreverentially.  He  must  hold  his  tongue  and  spegik 
nothing,  even  though  it  be  pain  and  grief  to  him. 

But  this  very  silence  is  a  proof  that  tlie  world  will 
bear  to  hear  no  truths  which  it  dreads.  It  loill  turn 
away  from  the  contemplation  of  them  so  long  as  it 
can,  and  occupy  itself  with  other  thoughts.  "As 
the  days  of  Noe  were,  so  shall  also  the  coming  of 
the  Son  of  Man  be.  For  as  in  the  days  that  were 
before  the  flood  they  were  eating  and  drinking, 
marrying  and  giving  in  marriage,  until  the  day  that 
Noe  entered  into  the  ark,  and  knew  not  until  tlie 
flood  came,  and  took  them  all  away ;  so  shall  also 
the  coming  of  the  Son  of  Man  be." 

It  appears,  then,  that  one  of  the  signs  of  Christ's 
coming  will  be  in  the  absence  of  all  expectation  con- 
cerning Plim.  He  will  come  in  an  hour  when  the 
world  feels  safe  from  His  arrival ;  either  when  it  is 
not  thinking  at  all  about  Him,  or  wlicn  it  has  per- 
suaded itself  that  the  period  of  His  Advent  will  be  at 


304  THE    END    OF 

some  other  time.  He  will  come  like  a  thief  in  the 
night,  when  men  are  asleep. 

Now  if  this  be  the  case,  we,  at  least,  have  no  rea- 
son to  suppose  that  His  approach  can  be  far  distant, 
for  certainly  were  He  to  come  nowj  He  would  take 
the  majority  of  us  altogether  by  surprise. 

But  there  are  other  signs  of  Christ's  speedy  coming 
beside  this,  to  which  we  shall  do  well  to  attend. 
Of  course  I  am  not  presuming  to  speak  of  the  nature 
of  that  coming.  It  may  be  that  the  final  consumma- 
tion of  all  things  is  at  hand  ;  it  may  be  that  He  is 
coming  to  visit  and  purify  the  Church  by  some  sharp 
trial.  On  such  a  matter  it  would  be  as  irreverent,  as 
it  would  be  beside  my  purpose,  to  express  an  opinion. 
The  storm  which  seems  gathering  round,  may  burst 
upon  us  in  an  overwhelming  torrent, — or  the  clouds 
may  disperse,  and  the  sun  shine  out  once  more  in  his 
strength.  The  crisis  to  which  all  things  seem  so 
rapidly  tending,  may  be  His  last  coming,  or  merely 
such  a  type  and  foreshadowing  of  it,  as  the  Church 
has  seen  already.  But  since  in  either  case,  our  duties 
are  the  same,  the  only  thing  for  us  to  do  is  to  look 
out  for  the  tokens  of  His  coming,  that  so  ive  may  be 
prepared  for  it.  What  those  tokens  are, — *'  the  signs 
in  the  sun,  and  in  the  moon,  and  in  the  stars;  and 
upon  earth  distress  of  nations,  with  perplexity,"  we 
have  all  read  in  Holy  Scripture ;  and  when  we  see 


ALL    THINGS.  305 

those  tokens,  or  any  of  them,  it  is  the  part  of  true 
wisdom  to  be  watchful  and  observant.  "  Behold  the 
fig-tree,  and  all  the  trees  ;  when  they  now  shoot  forth, 
ye  see  and  know  of  your  own  selves  that  summer  is 
now  nigh  at  hand.  So  hkewise  ye,  when  ye  see 
these  things  come  to  pass,  know  ye  that  the  kingdom 
of  God  is  nigh  at  hand," 

But  are  there,  it  will  be  asked,  any  such  tokens 
now  in  sight,  as  those  which  the  voice  of  prophecy 
has  set  forth  as  harbingers  of  His  coming  ? 

I  answer,  that  since  He  left  us  the  world  has  never 
been  without  them;  for  since  that  time,  men  have 
been  Uving  "  in  the  last  days,"  and  have  been  taught 
to  believe  that  "  the  end  of  all  things  is  at  hand." 
Therefore,  even  when  the  world  and  the  Church  have 
seemed  in  the  most  tranquil  state,  it  has  been  the 
duty  of  Christians  to  be  anxiously  watching.  And 
consequently,  still  greater  becomes  the  urgent  need 
of  vigilance  when  there  is  any  appearance  of  such  a 
state  of  things,  as  that  which  we  are  taught  to  expect 
will  precede  the  immediate  coming  of  the  Lord. 

Now,  from  the  nature  of  things,  we  are  bad  judges 
of  the  relative  importance  of  events  which  take  place 
in  our  own  day,  and  in  which,  perhaps,  we  ourselves 
bear  our  share  ;  and  therefore  it  is  quite  possible  that 
I  may  be  more  or  less  mistaken  in  what  I  am  about 
to  say :  but  I  beg  you  to  observe,  that  mistake  in 


306  THE    END    OF 

this  case  is  on  the  side  oi  safety.  No  possible  harm 
can  arise  from  it.  Whereas,  mistake  on  the  other 
side  is  full  of  most  imminent  peril.  Our  only  duty  is 
to  watch  at  all  times,  and  therefore  if  Christ  should 
not  come  when  we  are  looking  out  for  Him,  it  mat- 
ters not ;  for  we  are  still  in  the  path  of  duty.  But 
were  He  to  come  when  we  were  not  looking  out  for 
Him,  and  when  our  hearts  were  overcharged  with 
the  cares  of  this  life,  then  we  could  only  expect  the 
fate  of  that  servant  who  would  not  watch. 

With  this  observation,  and  without  doing  more 
than  glancing  at  the  mere  surface  of  things  which  are 
within  the  knowledge  of  all,  I  would  say  that  it 
seems  impossible  to  look  at  the  world  and  the  Church 
at  the  present  time,  without  seeing  in  them  many 
things  which  seem  tending  towards  a  tremendous 
contest  between  the  principles  of  good  and  evil,  such 
as  we  are  taught  to  expect  will  take  place  before  that 
day  when  the  sign  of  the  Son  of  Man  shall  appear 
in.  heaven,  when  "all  the  tribes  of  the  earth  shall 
mourn,  and  they  shall  see  the  Son  of  Man  coming 
in  the  cloudsof  heaven  with  power  and  great  glory." 

For  look  out  upon  the  face  of  the  world  and  see 
what  is  passing  therein, — not  in  our  own  nation 
only,  but  among  all  the  civilized  peoples  of  the  earth. 
Can  any  description  reach  their  case  so  fully  as  what 
is  briefly  comprehended  in  those  two  words  of  Holy 


ALL    THINGS.  307 

Writ,  "distress,"  and  "perplexity?"  Is  there  not  a 
general  loosening  of  those  bands  which  hold  the 
frame-work  of  society  together?  a  feverish  restless- 
ness which  rejects  all  that  has  been  long  established, 
though  there  is  nothing  better  to  supply  its  place  ? 
are  not  even  the  worldly-minded,  and  they  who  least 
watch  the  ways  of  Providence  constrained  to  observe 
and  own  the  fact,  that  the  course  of  events  seen  s 
rapidy  hastening  to  some  portentous  crisis  in  the 
annals  of  mankind?  Everywhere  the  leaven  of 
anarchy  and  revolution  seems  to  spread,  and  if,  as 
yet,  nation  does  not  rise  against  nation,  and  kingdom 
against  kingdom,  it  is  only  because  each  has  more 
than  enough  to  occupy  it  at  home.  Intestine  trouble  ; 
— the  presence  of  evil  men  skilful  in  misleading  the 
ignorant; — a  growing  irksomeness  of  restraint  to 
authority; — extremes  of  poverty  and  luxury; — on 
the  one  hand  privations  and  sufferings  of  which  it  is 
dreadful  to  think,  and  on  the  other,  extravagance, 
effeminacy,  and  a  love  of  selfish  comfort  which  have 
ever  been  one  of  the  surest  signs  of  a  decaying 
people;  these,  and  many  other  things,  on  which  I 
cannot  now  dwell  particularly,  all  point  to  the  same 
way,  namely,  to  the  disorganization  and  disruption 
of  society  among  the  most  important  nations  of  the 
world. 

And  now,  turning  from  the  world  to  the  Church, 


308  THE    END    OP 

shall  we  see  aught  therein  but  what  should  lead  us  to 
believe  that  "  the  end  of  all  things  is  at  hand  ?" 
Time  was,  when  the  privileges  of  the  Gospel  were 
offered  to  the  Jews,  and  rejected  by  them.  Because 
of  unbelief  they  were  broken  oiY,  and  the  wild  oUve 
tree  was  graffed  in  that  it  might  partake  of  the  root 
and  fatness  of  the  good  olive  tree.  The  Saviour 
came  unto  His  own,  and  His  own  received  Him  not, 
and  so  He  turned  unto  the  Gentiles.  Among  us 
sinners  of  the  Gentiles  the  Church  was  planted,  and 
has  continued  with  us  from  Apostolic  times.  But 
how  have  we  benefited  by  the  blessing  ?  Have  we 
not  reason  to  fear  that  we  must  have  exhausted  the 
long-suffering  of  God,— that  our  season  of  trial  must 
be  well-nigh  ended,  and  "  the  times  of  the  Gentiles 
be  fulfilled  ?" 

For  what  has  been  the  history  of  the  Church  of  the 
Gentiles  ?  Has  it  not  been,  from  first  to  last,  a  cata- 
logue of  scliisms  and  offences  in  that  body  which 
Christ  enjoined  to  preserve  its  unity  ?  Has  not  one 
heresy  succeeded  another,  and  error  followed  upon 
error,  with  a  variety  and  rapidity  that  have  been 
inexhaustible  ?  Has  there  not  been  incessant  strife, 
and  hatred,  and  variance,  and  emulation  ?  Have  not 
distractions  torn  the  flock  of  Christ  asunder,  and  dis- 
figurements marred  its  fair  beauty  ?  Is  not  the  East 
divided  from  the  West,  and  are  not  both  tainted  and 


ALL    THINGS.  309 

infected  with  the  foul,  dinging  leprosy  of  corruption 
and  superstition  ?  And  even  in  those  branches  of 
the  Catholic  Church  where  faith  seems  purest,  is  there 
not  a  separation  from  the  rest  of  Christendom,  and  a 
total  absence  of  communion  and  fellowship?  Surely- 
such  a  state  of  things  would  have  justified,  at  almost 
any  period  of  its  existence,  the  application  of  the 
Saviour's  prediction,  to  the  Gentile  Church,  that  in 
the  last  days  "  many  shall  be  offended,  and  shall 
betray  one  another,  and  shall  hate  one  another," — 
that  there  shall  arise  "  false  Christs,  and  false  pro- 
phets,"— and  that  "because  iniquity  shall  abound, 
the  love  of  many  shall  wax  cold."  And  if  such  has 
been  the  state  of  things  among  us  for  long,  what 
possible  ground  have  we  for  expecting  that  our 
transgressions  and  disunion  will  be  tolerated  much 
longer?  The  graft,  wild  by  nature,  which  was 
graffed  contrary  to  nature  into  a  good  olive  tree,  has 
failed  to  bring  forth  fruit :  what  is  there  to  plead  why 
it  should  not  be  broken  off  for  ever  ? 

I  do  not  mean  (God  forbid  !)  to  say  that  the 
Gospel  has  been  preached  among  the  Gentiles  in 
vain.  The  noble  army  of  Martyrs,  the  goodly  com- 
pany of  Saints  belong,  for  the  most  part,  to  the 
Gentile  Church.  Individual  piety  there  has  been 
among  us,  and  individual  piety  would  have  saved 
Sodom.  God  is  ever  gathering  in  His  elect, — sepa- 
27 


310  THE    END    OF 

rating  the  wheat  from  the  tares,  wmnowing  the 
seed  from  the  chaff,  thoroughly  purging  His  floor, 
and  collecting  the  wheat  for  His  garner.  But  look- 
ing at  the  Gentile  Church  in  the  mass,  and  tracing 
its  history  since  the  prayers  and  alms  of  Cornelius 
went  up  for  a  memorial  before  God,  can  we  speak 
of  it  with  other  feelings  than  those  of  shame  and 
pain, — or  than  as  acknowledging  that  it  has  proved 
itself  unworthy  of  its  mercies,  and  therefore  as  being 
only  fit  for  judgment? 

And  now,  bringing  our  inquiries  nearer  home,  wliat 
shall  we  say  of  the  condition  of  our  own  branch  of 
the  Catholic  church  ?  What  grounds  have  we  for 
hoping  that  we  shall  escape  in  the  great  and  terrible 
day  of  the  Lord's  coming?  How  far  have  English 
Churchmen  done  their  duty,  how  far  are  they  doing 
it  towards  their  poor  and  ignorant  brethren  ?  Bear 
witness  the  spiritual  destitution  that  exists  among  us, 
and  the  state  of  our  manufacturing  population,  Avhere 
those  who  are  not  schismatics,  are  heathens.  Bear 
witness  the  state  of  our  vast  Colonial  possessions, 
which  we  all  but  leave  without  even  the  semblance 
of  the  three-fold  order  of  the  Ministry.  Bear  witness 
the  niggard  measure  of  our  offerings  to  God.  Bear 
witness, — (to  go  one  step  further)  the  amount  of 
national  transgression  whether  among  high  or  low ; 
our  worldliness,  our  covetousness,  our  irreverence, 


ALL    THINGS.  311 

and,  above  all,  onr  miserable  divisions  which  are  of 
themselves  sufficient  cause  why  God  should  with- 
draw His  face  from  us  for  ever. 

The  suggestions  which  I  have  now  made,  will,  I 
trust,  suffice  to  convince  you  that  we  have  good  rea- 
son to  apply  the  admonition  of  the  text  to  ourselves. 
We  know  that  we  are  living  in  the  last  limes.  We 
know  that  Christ's  coming  cannot  be  long  delayed. 
We  do  no/ know  whether  the  Antichrist  is  yet  among 
us,  but  we  are  sure  that  even  now  there  are  many 
Antichrists.  We  do  not  know  whether  Christ's  final 
coming  to  judgment  be  very  near,  but  we  do  know 
that  there  are  some  at  least  of  those  tokens  to  be 
seen,  which,  as  heretofore  they  have  ushered  in. 
events  that  have  been  former  types  of  His  coming,  so 
they  may  be  expected  now  to  be  signs  of  some 
approaching  visitation. 

Here,  then,  is  the  ground  of  our  admonition  to  you: 
and  the  admonition  itself  is,  that  we  be  "  sober,  and 
watch,  unto  prayer."  Plain  and  simple  directions 
these,  which  all  can  understand,  and  which  it  is  in 
the  power  of  all,  who  seek  for  gifts  of  grace,  to  obey. 

0  that  there  were  such  an  heart  in  us  that  we 
could  learn  to  realize  the  unseen  world,  and  live  in  a 
state  of  watchful  expectancy,  as  men  who  are  look- 
ing for  the  speedy  coming  of  their  Lord  !  that  instead 
of  entangling  ourselves  with  passing  interests  and 


312  THE    END    OF 

objects,  worldly  success  and  temporal  advantages,  we 
would  endeavour  to  grow  indifferent  to  all  that  does 
not  bear  some  close  relation  to  our  spiritual  condi- 
tion !  that  we  would  discipline  ourselves  into  habits 
of  self-control,  that  so  we  may  view  things  calmly, 
and  with  eyes  undimmed  by  the  false  glare  of  this 
world  !  that  we  would  instil  into  our  hearts  some- 
thing of  that  temper  which  enables  men  to  become 
martyrs  and  confessors ; — something  of  that  hardness 
which  despises  luxury  and  comforts,  and  which  is 
bold  in  act  and  careless  of  suffering ; — something  of 
that  habitual  communion  with  God,  which  can  only 
be  arrived  at  through  a  life  of  prayer;  something  of 
that  watchfulness,  that  unceasing  vigilance  in  what 
the  world  calls  trifles,  which  is  the  only  safeguard 
against  our  being  taken  by  surprise,  the  only  pledge 
that  we  shall  not  be  slumbering,  when  all  others  are 
taken  unawares !  0  that  we  would  enter  more 
fully  upon  the  discharge  of  those  duties  required  by 
Him  Who  will  come  to  be  our  Judge,  when  He  bade 
us  stand  with  our  loins  girt  about,  and  our  lights 
burning,  like  unto  men  that  wait  for  their  Lord. 
"  Blessed  is  that  servant  whom  his  Lord  when  He 
cometh  shall  find  so  doing." 

What  things  may  be  coming  upon  the  earth  we 
cannot  tell;  what  trials  may  yet  await  the  Church 
we  know  not ;  how  near  at  hand,  how  fierce,  how 


ALL    THINGS.  313 

terrible  they  may  be. — Only  we  may  be  sure  that 
there  is  nothing  bad  which  we  have  not  deserved. 
Only  we  trust  that  there  is  yet  space  and  grace  for 
individual  repentance.  Only  we  have  this  comfort, 
that  even  when  Antichrist  himself  is  among  us,  his 
reign  will  be  brief, — for  the  elect's  sake  those  days 
shall  be  shortened. 

May  our  good  and  merciful  Lord, — He  Who  by 
His  blood-shedding  redeemed  us,  and  Who  is  now 
our  Intercessor, — may  He  aid  us  to  acquire  the  spirit 
of  soberness,  and  watchfulness,  and  prayer.  May 
He  give  us  strength  according  to  our  need,  and 
enable  us  to  rejoice  in  tribulation,  and  triumph  in 
suffering  for  His  Name's  sake. 
27* 


SERMON  XX. 


Luke  xxiv.  29, 


Bat  they  constrained  Him,  saying,  Aljide  with  us;  for  it  is 
toAvard  evening,  and  the  day  is  far  spent. 

If  there  be  something  which  is  deeply  affecting  in 
the  Evangelists'  brief  account  of  the  several  inter- 
views which  took  place  between  our  Lord  and  His 
disciples,  after  that  He  was  risen  from  the  dead,  and 
before  He  ascended  to  the  right  hand  of  the  Father, 
there  is  something  no  less  humiliating  in  the  want  of 
faith,  and  slowness  of  heart,  exhibited  by  those  who 
for  a  long  season  had  had  such  abundant  proofs  that 
He  was  indeed  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  the  living  God. 

Yet,  amid  all  their  weakness,  the  tokens  were  not 
doubtful  of  their  loyalty,  their  honest  sincerity,  and 
true  affection ;  and  if  the  resurrection  of  their  Lord 
was  an  event  altogether  beyond  the  reach  of  their 
most  sanguine  hopes,  their  deep  sorrow  at  His  loss, 
and  the  expression  of  their  trust, — shaken,  indeed, 


316  THE    pilgrim's 

yet  scarcely  overthrown, — that  it  was  He  who  should 
have  redeemed  Israel,  may  nevertheless  be  taken  as 
an  evidence,  that  their  errors,  and  infirmities,  and 
prejudices,  were  in  great  measure  those  of  their  times, 
their  country,  and  condition  in  life,  while  their  vir- 
tues, were  altogether  their  own. 

The  incident  recorded  by  St.  Luke,  and  to  which  I 
am  about  to  invite  your  attention,  is  an  illustration 
of  my  meaning. 

On  the  day  of  the  Resurrection,  two  of  the  disci- 
ples were  on  their  way  to  Emmaus,  a  village  some 
short  distance  from  Jerusalem.  In  what  frame  of 
mind  they  journeyed,  we  can  be  at  no  loss  to  dis- 
cover, for  when  our  Blessed  Lord  appeared  to  them, 
we  are  told  they  were  engaged  in  communing  and 
reasoning  together,  of  all  the  things  which  had  hap- 
pened so  recently  at  Jerusalem,  and  that  His  first 
question  to  them  (for  as  yet  their  eyes  were  holden 
that  they  should  not  know  Him,)  was  in  these  words, 
"  What  manner  of  communications  are  these  that  ye 
have  one  to  another,  as  ye  walk,  and  are  sad?^^ 

Their  answer  showed  their  doubts  and  their  sus- 
pense. Their  minds  were  full  of  Him,  whom  they 
acknowledged  as  "  mighty  in  word  and  deed,  before 
God,  and  all  the  people,"  yet  nevertheless  they  could 
not  bring  themselves  to  speak  of  Him,  as  more  than 
"  a  prophet  j"  they  manifest  their  astonishment  at  the 


ABIDING    FRIEND.  317 

tale  of  the  reported  resurrection,yet  never  seem  to  call 
to  mind  the  many  predictions  which  had  been  uttered 
on  the  subject. 

No  sooner,  however,  does  the  Saviour  begin  to 
expound  to  them  the  Scriptures  concerning  Himself, 
than  their  hearts  burn  witliin  them,  they  listen  with 
the  deep  interest  of  men  whose  thoughts  are  all 
centered  in  one  absorbing  subject;  who  honestly 
seek  for  more  light  and  knowledge,  who  desire  to  be 
convinced,  and  to  be  led  into  the  way  of  truth. 
Their  hearts  revive  as  they  listen  to  the  teaching  of 
their  unknown  companion  ;  they  feel  that  it  is  good 
to  be  in  his  company ;  and  when  he  seems  disposed 
to  part  from  them,  they  constrain  him  to  continue 
with  them  ; — "  Abide  with  us ;  for  it  is  toward  even- 
ing, and  the  day  is  far  spent." 

Now,  for  your  present  instruction,  my  brethren, 
perhaps  I  may  be  permitted  to  apply  these  words  in 
a  spiritual,  rather  than  in  a  literal  sense,  and  to  draw 
from  them,  some  encouragements  which  may  sup- 
port you  along  the  dim,  uncertain  path  of  the 
unknown  future,  and  direct  you  to  that  One  Abiding 
Friend,  that  one  unfailing  and  unvarying  source  of 
godly  hope  and  consolation,  which,  amid  all  the 
changes  and  chances  of  this  mortal  life,  will  never 
fail  us  at  our  need,  or  disappoint  us  of  its  succour,  as 
"a  very  present  help  in  time  of  trouble." 


318  THE    pilgrim's 

It  may  be  affirmed,  then,  that  our  own  condition 
in  this  oar  state  of  earthly  trial,  is  not  wholly  unUke 
that  of  the  disciples  to  whom  I  have  alluded.  At 
least  like  them,  we  tread  a  path  of  sorrow,  with 
blinded  eyes,  and  uncertain  steps ;  like  them,  we 
wander  forth,  (if  so  be  we  have  renounced  the  world,) 
desolate  and  lonely ;  hke  them  we  have  learned  by 
wofiil  experience,  the  extent  of  our  own  infirmities 
and  incapacities ;  like  them  as  we  commune  together, 
we  are  sad,  and  in  truth,  have  much  to  make  us  so. 

Why,  then,  should  we  not  betake  ourselves  to  the 
same  Friend  in  whom  they  found  solace  ?  why 
should  we  not  address  our  prayer  deliberately  and 
habitually  to  that  Saviour  whom  they  invoked  uncon- 
sciously ?  why  should  ive  not  say  to  Him,  as  they 
said,  "Abide  with  us,  for  it  is  toward  evening,  and 
the  day  is  far  spent." 

Far  spent  indeed  it  is,  even  to  the  youngest,  and 
healthiest,  and  strongest  among  us :  far  spent,  inas- 
much as  by  every  one  of  us  time  has  been  wasted 
which  can  never  be  recalled,  opportunities  neglected 
which  will  never  be  vouchsafed  again,  talents  abused 
or  frittered  away,  not  one  of  which  can  be  so  treated 
with  impunity,  and  means  of  grace  despised,  not  one 
of  which  but  if  duly  improved,  would  have  shown 
itself  of  inestimable  value.  The  day  is  far  spent. 
To  many  of  us  but  few  more  working  hours  remain. 


ABIDING    FRIEND.  319 

And  this  we  know  by  onr  own  sensations.  We  feci 
the  inroads  of  time,  the  ravages  of  care  and  sorrow, 
the  weariness  of  lengthened  toil.  The  infirmities  of 
advancing  age,  and  the  failure  of  our  powers  of  life 
are  unequivocally  warning  us  that  night  is  coming 
on,  that  before  long  we  shall  be  able  to  work  no 
more,  that  the  years  draw  nigh  when  we  shall  say 
that  we  have  no  pleasure  in  them.  To  none  of  us  is 
there  any  assurance  that  the  day  is  not  far  spent,  for 
even  though  in  respect  of  the  usual  length  of  years 
alloted  to  man,  we  may  not  have  yet  lived  out  half 
our  time,  who  can  tell  that  his  sun  shall  not  go  down 
while  it  is  yet  day  ?  who  can  tell  how  near,  or  how 
far  distant,  that  night  may  be  in  which  his  soul  may 
be  required  of  him  ? 

"It  is  toward  evening!"  Hour  after  hour  has 
passed  away; — the  early  dawn, — the  fresh  and  joy- 
ous morning, — the  scorching  noon!ide  with  its  heat 
and  burden, — the  afternoon  with  its  weariness  and 
exhaustion, — each  in  turn  have  departed;  and  change, 
and  chance,  and  sin,  and  sorrow  have  been  the  com- 
panions of  each.  The  hopes  which  we  conceived  in 
the  brightness  of  our  prime  have  shrunk  and 
withered:  the  schemes  which  our  maturer  years 
were  to  have  ripened,  have,  for  the  most  part,  ended 
like  untimely  fruit  in  rottenness  and  decay :  yea, 
whether  in  the  main,  success  or  disappointment  has 


320  THE  pilgrim's 

been  the  result  ofour  exertions,  the  closing  day  must 
elicit  from  every  one  of  us  the  same  confession,  that 
"all  is  vanity." — Pleasure,  riches,  power,  rank, 
youth,  strength,  beauty,  health,  all  perish  in  the 
using.     "Vanity  of  vanities.     All  is  vanity." 

"It  is  toward  evening!"  Hour  after  hour  has 
passed  away  ;  and  though  we  have  laboured  on  to 
the  last,  not  an  lionr  has  elapsed  but  some  one  ofour 
fellow-labourers  has  been  called  from  our  side  to  go 
home,  and  receive  his  wages  from  the  Master's  hand. 
When  we  were  children,  the  children  whom  we 
loved,  and  who  were  the  companions  of  our  merry 
games,  died  around  us,  and  gave  us,  perhaps,  the 
first  taste  of  that  sorrow,  which  has  ever  since  been 
mingled  with  our  cup.  In  our  youth  we  were 
shocked  at  seeing  those  ofour  own  age  fall  beside  us 
under  some  sudden  blow,  and  we  mourned  at  the 
time  with  all  the  depth  and  emotion  of  young  and 
feeling  hearts.  But  we  lived  on ;  yea,  we  lived  to  man- 
hood, still  shocked  and  warned  by  the  successive 
deaths  of  those  contemporaries  who  seemed  but  as 
yesterday  to  have  the  same  prospects  of  life  with 
ourselves. 

And  now,  as  in  increasing  years  we  look  back, 
and  see,  perhaps,  not  one  in  ten  of  those  with  whom 
we  started  on  our  career  surviving:  as  we  find  our 
children  ready  to  succeed  us,  and  a  new  generation 


ABIDING    FKIEND.  321 

preparing  to  supply  our  place  ;  and  as  we  feel  within 
ourselves  the  certain  signs  of  decay  and  dissolution; 
what  thought, — as  year  by  year,  Advent  and  Christ- 
mas, Lent  and  Passion  Week,  Easter  and  Whitsun- 
tide return,  (seasons  sanctified  each  by  its  own 
associations  of  the  past) ;  what  thought,  I  say,  can 
come  more  naturally  to  our  minds  than  this,  that  our 
remaining  time  must  needs  be  short ;  that  our  oppor- 
tunities of  serving  God  in  the  courts  of  His  House 
are  rapidly  drawing  to  an  end;  that  "it  is  toward 
evening,  and  the  day  is  far  spent  ?" 

Amid  such  reflections  as  these  (and  I  have  named 
but  a  few  of  the  most  obvious  of  those  which  must 
find  an  answer  in  every  heart),  I  know  nothing  but 
the  thought  of  Christ's  abiding  presence,  of  His  being 
in  us,  and  with  us,  the  Sharer  of  our  trials,  and  the 
Companion  of  our  pilgrimage,  which  can  in  any 
way  fill  up  the  aching  void  occasioned  by  bereave- 
ment ;  which  can  pluck  out  the  stings  of  sorrow  and 
disappointment,  and  change  our  despair  and  repin- 
ings  at  the  vanity  of  things  temporal,  into  grateful 
acknowledgments,  and  child-like  trust,  that  He,  Who 
in  hitherto  preserving  us,  has  at  the  same  time  been 
gradually  weaning  us  from  this  world,  and  therein 
has  afforded  us  abundant  grounds  of  hope  that  He, 
Who  has  hitherto  delivered,  Avill  yet  deliver. 

It  was  the  Psalmist's  humble  trust  that  the  loviiig- 
£8 


322 

kindness  and  mercy  of  God  should  follow  him  all  the 
days  of  his  life  :  and  surely  they  who  are  conscious 
that  they  are  endeavouring  to  walk  in  the  Psalmist's 
stops,  may  repose  themselves  on  the  same  comfort- 
able hope. 

Pilgrims  along  life's  stern  and  dreary  way,  we 
have  still,  like  the  disciples  on  the  road  to  Emmaus, 
a  companion  in  our  path,  Who  walks  beside  us, 
unseen,  indeed,  yet  close  at  hand,  Who  sympathizes 
witli  us  as  having  shared  our  infirmities  and  sorrows, 
Who  is  our  Brother  as  well  as  our  Lord,  Who, 
though  as  yet  our  eyes  are  holden  that  we  should 
not  know  llim  as  He  is,  knows  us,  and  loves  and 
pities  us  in  spite  of  that  knowledge,  and  Who  is 
willing  to  tarry  with  us,  and  to  be  the  Guide  we  so 
much  need,  or  rather.  Who  hath  already  guided  us, 
and  hath  talked  with  us  by  the  way,  even  before  our 
hearts  began  to  burn  within  us. 

How  gracious  have  been  His  counsels  to  every 
one  of  us  !  Oh  !  how  great  has  been  the  sum  of  them  ! 
For  creation  and  preservation,  for  regeneration,  and 
adoption, — for  the  blessings  of  this  life,  and  the  hopes 
of  another  ;  for  Redemption  purchased  for  us,  and 
the  Church,  and  the  Sacraments,  provided  to  apply 
it  to  us;  for  the  mercies  bestowed  upon  us  every 
day,  for  the  protection  vouchsafed  to  us  from  hourly 
perils,  what  thanks  do  we  owe  to  Him,  Who  never 


ABIDING    FRIEND.  323 

sliimbereth,  nor  sleepetli,  Whose  eye  is  ever  upon  us 
for  good,  Whose  ear  is  ever  open  to  our  prayers  ? 
Can  we  doubt  that  the  past  is  a  guarantee  for  the 
future  ?  Can  we  hesitate  as  to  IVhose  presenc3 
should  go  with  us,  in  order  to  secure  us  rest  ?  Can 
we  be  uncertain  as  to  the  fittest  prayer  to  Him  Who 
alone  can  preserve  our  going  out  and  our  coming  in 
from  this  time  forth  for  evermore  ? 

"  Abide  Thou  with  us  :  for  it  is  toward  evening, 
and  the  day  is  far  spent."  God,  our  Father,  our 
Redeemer,  and  our  Sanctifier,  has  been  with  us 
hitherto,  and  that  is  the  guarantee,  that  unless  we 
grieve  Him,  resist  Him,  and  drive  Him  from  us.  He 
is  ready  to  continue  with  us  to  the  end.  "  Why  art 
thou,"  then,  "so  vexed,  0  my  soul:  and  why  art 
thou  so  disquieted  within  me  ?  0  put  thy  trust  in 
God :  for  I  will  yet  thank  Him,  which  is  the  help  of 
my  countenance,  and  my  God.*' 

This,  my  brethren,  is  the  state  of  mind  at  which 
the  Christian  will  be  continually  endeavouring  to 
arrive,— a  simple  committal  of  himself  to  his  God 
and  Saviour,  with  prayers  for  His  continual  presence, 
and  entire,  unreserved,  unhesitating  trust  in  His  ever- 
watchful  Providence. 

The  Christian  knows  that  so  long  as  God  continues 
him  in  the  world,  he  must  continue  in  the  fellowship 
of  his  Saviour's  sufferings,  and  therefore,  his  desire 


324 

is  to  be  made  like  unto  him  in  faith  and  patience. 
If  hitherto  he  has  had  much  of  trial,  he  trusts  that 
this,  his  experience,  may  enable  him  to  meet  those 
troubles  which  are  in  store  for  him  hereafter,  in  a 
better  and  more  submissive  spirit.     If  as  yet  God's 
chastening  hand  has  fallen  lightly  on  him,  he  endea- 
vours to  discipline  himself  that  so  he  may  bear  the 
rod  when   it  comes   upon  him.     If  as  yet,  neither 
chance  nor  change,  sickness  nor   sorrow,  nor  care, 
nor  anxiety,  nor  disappointment,  have  dimmed  the 
brightness  of  his  eye,  nor  imprinted  a  furrow  on  his 
brow,  he  soberly  reflects  that  the  probability  is  that 
some  or  all  of  them  will  speedily  be  his  portion,  and 
he   prepares   himself  in  them,  "  to  meet  his  God." 
The  fewer  the  trials  that  have  as  yet  been  sent,  the 
heavier  may  be  those  which  are  impending.     The 
rarer  the  opportunities  hitherto  of  showing  forth  faith 
and  resignation,  the  brighter  must  be  the  light  ex- 
hibited, when  God  shall  put  him  to  the  test. 

Known  unto  God  only,  are  destinies  which  await 
any  one  of  us :  and  which  of  us  has  only  a  few 
more  weeks  or  months  of  existence,  none  but  He  can 
tell.  But  of  this,  at  least,  we  are  all  aware,  that  to 
7wne  of  us  can  many  years  remain  ;  to  any  of  us 
death  may  even  now  be  at  our  doors.  "  We  bring 
our  years  to  an  end,  as  it  were  a  tale  that  is  told." 
And  therefore  the  Christian  makes  daily  preparation 


ABIDING    FRIEND.  325 

for  that  which  may  come  at  any  time,  and  which  at 
some  time  must  come.  And  his  preparation  consists 
in  a  steadfast  and  determined  weaning  of  himself 
from  the  affections  and  interests  of  tliis  world  ;  and 
a  calm  looking  forward  to  those  visitations  which  the 
cliastening  hand  of  our  Heavenly  Father  prepares 
for  all  those  whom  He  does  not  see  fit  to  take  early 
unto  Himself,  and  who  therefore  are  the  more 
tempted  to  look  on  this  world  as  a  home,  rather  than 
as  a  brief  resting-place,  and  to  value  its  good  things 
above  their  proper  value. 

The  Christian  knows  that  the  longer  he  lives,  the 
more  sorrows  must  await  him,  more  disappointment 
of  hopes,  more  breaking  of  long-established  ties, 
more  changes,  more  pain,  more  tears,  more  bereave- 
ments, more  death.  And  he  knows  tl;iat  these  things 
must  fall  on  him,  as  his  own  strength  is  failing,  and 
as  sickness  and  infirmity  are  wearing  down  his 
bodily  powers  and  the  buoyancy  of  his  mind,  and 
bringing  him  to  the  house  appointed  for  all  living. 

The  man  of  this  world  shrinks  from  the  contem- 
plation of  this,  his  inevitable  fate,  and  if  forced  to 
look  forward  to  it,  he  asks  whether  it  be  possible  for 
thought  to  conceive  a  more  dismal  state  of  things? 
And  dismal  to  him  it  is, — dismal  to  all  it  must  be 
who  have  not  habituated  themselves  to  the  thought 
that  their  blessings  are  given  for  a  time  only, — dis- 


326 

mal  to  all  who  have  not  learned  to  rejoice,  as  though 
they  rejoiced  not ;  to  possess  as  though  they  pos- 
sessed not ;  to  die  daily,  and  to  sacrifice  by  mortifica- 
tion, and  constant  self-denial,  even  things  indifferent, 
for  Christ's  sake. 

Bnt  to  those  who  are  living  for  eternity  it  is  not 
so  :  to  such  persons  (and  God  grant  that  yon,  my 
brethren,  may  be  of  the  number)  the  inevitably  in- 
creasing sorrows  of  mortality,  do  not  present  a  cheer- 
less prospect,  for  it  is  beyond  the  grave,  and  above 
this  fleeting  world,  that  the  Christian  has  fixed  his 
hopes  and  desires.  And  therefore  it  is  no  sad  sight 
to  him  when  breathless  and  weary  with  the  race,  to 
find  the  goal  in  view.  His  conversation  is  in  heaven, 
not  on  earth,  and  therefore  the  latter  years  of  his 
life,  have  a  joy  and  peace  which  his  youth  knew 
not.  Then  he  was  perhaps  more  or  less  undecided 
in  his  choice ;  or  dazzled  and  bewildered  with  the 
false  glare  of  pomps  and  pleasures  ;  but  now  he  feels 
liimself  approaching  the  confines  of  that  unseen 
world,  into  which  his  aching  sight  has  long  striven 
to  penetrate-;  the  scales  are  fallen  from  his  eyes  :  the 
veil  which  has  been  interposed  between  him  and  the 
light  of  day  is  wearing  thinner  and  thinner,  year  by 
year.  And  through  its  shadowy  folds  he  discovers 
his  treasure  gradually  accumulating,  where  neither 
fraud  nor  force  can  deprive  him  of  it.     He  knows 


ABIDING    FRIEND.  327 

indeed  that  evening  is  approaching,  and  the  day  far 
spent ;  but  he  knows  by  the  same  token  that  the 
time  of  his  departure  is  at  hand,  and,  in  humble  con- 
fidence in  God's  mercies  through  Christ  Jesus,  he 
trusts  he  is  bound  to  a  shore  where  trials  and  sor- 
rows shall  find  no  place. 

The  hour  of  death, — that  hour  with  blessings  on 
its  wings, — is  that  which  is  to  give  him  the  liberty, 
and  rest,  and  peace  which  here  he  has  not.  He  long 
has  looked  for  it,  and  therefore  he  calmly  meets  it. 
Not  boldly  and  presumptuously, — God  forbid  !  with 
no  blind  self-confidence,  or  irreverent  self-righteous- 
ness,— God  forbid  !  but  meekly  and  trustfully,  with- 
out despondency,  without  dismay :  with  trembling, 
and  yet  with  Godly  hope.  He  knows  the  Saviour  in 
Whom  he  has  trusted,  the  all-sufficiency  of  His 
Atonement,  and  the  power  of  His  Intercession  with 
the  Father.  He  has  experienced  for  many  years 
God's  mercy  and  loving-kindness,  and  wretched  and 
miserable  sinner  as  he  knows  himself  to  be,  he  still 
trusts  that  mercy  and  loving-kindness  to  bring  him 
peace  at  the  last,  and  to  provide  him  a  place,  even 
though  it  be  the  humblest  and  lowliest  of  all,  for  his 
blessed  Redeemer's  sake,  beneath  the  footstool  of 
that  Redeemer's  throne ! 


w 


iftMaaHMnaaiM 


